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THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 



THE 
AMATEUR CARPENTER 



By 



A. HYATT VERRILL 

Author of "The Boys' Outdoor Vacation Book," 
"An American Crusoe," etc. 



WITH OVER 200 DIAGRAMS 
BY THE AUTHOR 




NEW YORK 

DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 

1915 




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Copyright. 1915, by 
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 



SEP 22 1915 



C1.A410583 
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CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION .......... ix 

CHAPTER I 

TOOLS AND THEIR CARE 1 

Necessary tools. Other tools. » Caring for tools. 

CHAPTER II 

HOW TO MAKE A WORKBENCH 13 

Materials required. Learning to use your tools. Com- 
pleting the bench. 

CHAPTER III 

FITTING UP THE WORKSHOP 24 

The bench-vise. Bench-plates. Places for tools. Mak- 
ing a shelf. Learning to use other tools. Setting 
planes. How to use saws. 

CHAPTER IV 

HOW TO MAKE A TOOL-TRAY AND A MITRE-BOX . 40 
Materials. Making the tool-tray. Making the mitre- 
box. How to use the mitre-box. 

CHAPTER V 

LEARNING TO MAKE JOINTS 55 

Half-and-half joints. Tenons. Dovetail joints. Mor- 
tises. Blind joints. Dowel joints. Tongue-and-groove 
joints. Matching timber joints. Using glue. Prepa- 
ration. Use. Liquid and waterproof glues. Frozen 
glue. Coloured glues. 

V 



vi CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VI 

PAGE 

SHARPENING TOOLS 69 

Principles of sharpening tools. Cutting tools. Edged 
tools. Saw edges. Wire-edges. Feather-edges. Sharp- 
ening chisels and planes. Setting and filing saws. 
Sharpening screw-drivers. 

CHAPTER VII 

WOODS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 81 

Hard and soft woods. Common commercial woods. 
Properties and uses of ordinary woods. Ornamental 
woods. Staining woods. Formulas for various stains. 
Ebony, rosewood, walnut, oak, mahogany, maple, beech, 
cherry, Spanish cedar and other imitations. Spirit 
stains. Water stains. Graining. Ornamental finishes. 
Finishes. Oiling. Varnishing. French polishing. 
Waxes. Rubbed finish. 

CHAPTER VIII 

CARPENTRY ABOUT THE HOUSE 100 

Putting up shelves. Corner shelves. Brackets. Porta- 
ble shelves. Cupboards. Hinges. Butts. Ornamental 
hinges. Setting hinges. Locks and fastenings. Han- 
dles. Repairing furniture. Glued joints. Cement 
fillers. Repairing broken rockers. Tightening loose 
joints. Broken uprights. Broken seats. Broken backs. 
Broken legs. Using dowels. Loose frames. Uneven 
legs. Troublesome drawers. Loosening drawers which 
are jammed. 

CHAPTER IX 

MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 119 

How to make a stove truck. Making window ven- 
tilators. Home-made ash-sifters. Making shoe-brush 
holders and shoe-polishing benches. Making shelves 
for books. Handy umbrella-holders. Making window- 
seats. Simple stands. Tables. 



CONTENTS vii 

CHAPTER X 

PAGE 

FITTING UP A GYMNASIUM 148 

Vaulting horses. Jumping hurdles. Parallel bars. 
Punching-bag disks. Other appliances. 

CHAPTER XI 

RUSTIC CARPENTRY 168 

Woods and materials to use. Rustic seats and how to 
make them. Rustic garden furniture. Finishing. Mak- 
ing joints in rustic work. Making a plant stool. Seats. 
Flower stands. Pot stands and flower tubs. Plant 
boxes. Rustic armchairs. Making ugly fences attrac- 
tive. Rustic gates. Trellises and arbours. Rustic 
bridges. Making a rustic summer house. Thatching. 
Making slab buildings. 

CHAPTER XII 

MAKING SMALL BUILDINGS 192 

Materials required. Building a little workshop. Mak- 
ing the windows and doors. Shutters. Roofs. 
Shingling. Tarred and rubberoid paper. 

CHAPTER XIII 

VARIOUS USEFUL HINTS AND RECIPES . . .209 
Finishing floors. Veneering. Wood-carving tools and 
their care. Soldering. Working glass. Ornamental 
and frosted glass. Waterproofing wood. Fireproofing 
wood. Fastening metal, etc., to wood. To prevent 
wood from warping. 

CHAPTER XIV 

WOOD-WORKING MACHINERY 240 

Jig-saws. Scroll-saws. Turning-lathes. Boring and 
moulding machines. Planers, sanders and other ma- 
chinery. Hand-, foot- and power-driven machines. 
Running a little shop with power. 



INTRODUCTION 

Of all branches of manual training there is none 
more generally useful than carpentry. A knowl- 
edge of how to use carpenter's tools properly and 
how to make simple articles from lumber will 
never come amiss, and there is scarcely a man, 
woman or boy who at one time or another has not 
had occasion to use some sort of carpenter's tool. 
It may seem a very simple matter to use a saw, 
hammer, screw-driver or other similar tool, but 
nine times out of ten the amateur does not use such 
tools properly. 

The value of the "handy man about the house " 
is well recognised, and as a rule the handiest man 
is the man who possesses the best knowledge of 
simple carpentry; and it is to tell just how he 
may become handy in the use of tools, how he 
should care for them and what he may accom- 
plish with them, that this book has been written. 

It is a pleasure and a delight to use well-kept, 
keen-edged tools, and there is something abso- 
lutely fascinating in transforming plain pieces 

ix 



x INTRODUCTION 

of wood into various useful and ornamental 
articles. 

There is no mystery about making wooden ar- 
ticles, nothing difficult; and no complicated prin- 
ciples are involved in simple carpentry. Once 
the use of the tools is thoroughly mastered any 
person can make neat, attractive, simple furni- 
ture or can even construct good-sized buildings. 

During the long winter evenings carpentry 
work will provide a never-ending source of pleas- 
ure and one can while away hour after hour at 
the bench while constructing useful and attractive 
gifts, repairing furniture or making the various 
fixtures for an indoors gymnasium. Out-of-doors 
carpentry is also a fine field for the amateur car- 
penter, and in making rustic furniture, plant- 
stands and boxes, lawn seats, summer houses, 
pergolas or even garages and workshops, there is 
room for a great deal of inventiveness, originality 
and individual taste, as well as a splendid oppor- 
tunity for the amateur carpenter to exhibit his 
skill as an artisan in an enjoyable manner. 

Although this volume has been prepared pri- 
marily for boys, yet it will prove equally valuable 
for many " grown-ups' ' who are not familiar with 



INTRODUCTION xi 

the use of carpenter's tools, and even those who 
know how to use the tools will find much of in- 
terest and many useful hints in its pages. It is 
always wise to commence at the very beginning, 
and in this book the author has endeavoured to 
start at the A B C of carpentry and to cover the 
subject step by step from the simple matter of 
sawing off a piece of board to the construction of 
furniture and small buildings. 

The illustrations are so numerous and so com- 
prehensive that even without the text the amateur 
carpenter should be able to construct nearly every 
article described, but in each and every case the 
cuts have been supplemented by full and detailed 
directions for each step of the work. The draw- 
ings are more or less diagrammatic and no at- 
tempt has been made to reduce them to uniform 
scale. Where some particular point is to be illus- 
trated that portion of the work has been made 
more prominent than others and out of proportion 
to the rest, but as exact measurements are given in 
the text in every case, scale-plans or drawings are 
not deemed necessary. 

Every effort has been made to avoid technicali- 
ties and trade terms and complicated or intricate 



xii INTKODUCTION 

work and elaborate methods have been purposely 
omitted, the object being to produce a book so 
simple, so complete and so practical that any per- 
son may readily accomplish excellent results in 
carpentry with this volume as his sole guide and 
teacher. 



THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 



CHAPTER I 

TOOLS AND THEIR CARE 

Every one will find a knowledge of carpentering 
useful and entertaining. About the house, out-of- 
doors, on the farm, or when camping out, there 
are always opportunities for the amateur car- 
penter to show his skill and his handiness with 
tools and lumber. Although any one can "knock 
together'' some sort of a bench, box or shelves, 
yet to make a well-finished and presentable job 
requires a familiarity with tools and their use, as 
well as a knowledge of how to use the materials 
to the best advantage and how to accomplish the 
end in view with the least possible waste of labour 
and material. 

There is a right and a wrong way to do every- 
thing, and if you once learn the wrong way it will 
be very hard to overcome mistakes and do things 
right, so let's start right in the first place. The 
old motto, "Be sure you're right, then go 
ahead, " is a splendid slogan for the amateur car- 
penter. 

There is also another proverb which you will 



2 THE AMATEUE CARPENTER 

do well to bear in mind, and that is, "A good car- 
penter is known by his tools," for without good 
tools no one can expect to do neat and workman- 
like carpentry. 

One does not require many nor expensive tools 
in order to do ordinary carpentering, and a really 
good carpenter or joiner can accomplish won- 
derful results with only a few tools, but it re- 
quires more skill to turn out good work with a 
poor kit of tools than with a proper equipment, 
and time and money will be saved by having 
proper tools to start out with. 

On the other hand, too many tools are almost 
as bad as too few, for if you have a large assort- 
ment of saws, planes, chisels, etc., you will be 
confused and will often select the wrong tool for 
the work in hand, to say nothing of the trouble 
of looking after and caring for them. 

The really essential tools for an amateur car- 
penter are as follows: 

A claw-hammer Gouges 

A cross-cut saw A steel square 

A rip-saw Rule or tape 

Two planes A level 

A screw-driver Sandpaper 



A mallet 

A brad-awl 

A gimlet 

A bit-brace 

Bits 

Augers 

A countersink 

Chisels 



TOOLS AND THEIR CARE 3 

A keyhole- or compass- 
saw 
A nail-set 
An oil-stone 
Cutting-pliers 
Files 
A carpenter's pencil 



With these tools and an assortment of nails and 
screws one can make almost anything from a 
simple shelf to a house. There are many other 
useful tools which will greatly lighten your car- 
penter work and will add little to the expense, and 
among these are: 



A saw-set 

A carpenter's gauge 

An expansion-bit 

Clamps 

A tack-hammer 

A saw-vise 

A bevel-square 

A breast-drill 



Dividers 

A mitre-box 

A hack-saw 

A draw-knife 

An iron vise 

A plumb-bob and line 

A mitre- saw 



In selecting the tools it is poor economy to buy 
cheap or inferior things. The best carpenter in 



THE AMATEUE CARPENTER 




Fig. 20 



TOOLS AND THEIR CARE 5 

the world cannot do good accurate work with tools 
bought in ten-cent stores or with the toy tools 
that come in boys 7 tool-chests. Now and then one 
may find excellent tools for sale at bargain prices 
at bankrupt sales, fire sales, second-hand stores, 
etc., and sometimes the five- and ten-cent stores 
have "seconds" for sale which will serve every 
purpose. In order to buy such tools intelligently 
one must be familiar with the makes and the 
quality and must be a really good judge of tools, 
and it is far wiser to go to some reliable dealer 
and purchase first-class, guaranteed tools, even if 
they do cost more in the first place. 

The claw-hammer should be a strong, service- 
able steel hammer; not a light tack-hammer and 
not too heavy. The cross-cut saw should be of 
medium size with fine teeth, of the kind known 
as a "panel saw," for if you are to have but one 
cross-cut saw it must be fine enough to cut thin 
wood and large enough to saw good-sized timbers. 
If possible secure two cross-cut saws, one large 
and fairly coarse, the other fine. 

The rip-saw should be of good size and with me- 
dium teeth, suitable for ripping various kinds and 
sizes of boards, and until you are an expert and un- 
dertake heavy work one rip-saw will be all that you 



6 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

will require. For the planes purchase a medium- 
sized jack-plane and a block-plane. Fore-planes, 
smoothing-planes, rabbet-planes and various other 
forms are very handy and useful for certain kinds 
of work, but with a good jack- and block-plane you 
can get along very well indeed. 

The screw-driver should be of medium size, and 
if you can get one with extra interchangeable 
blades so much the better. The brad-awl should 
be small, and this is such a cheap tool that you 
will do well to have several or else purchase an 
awl with various-sized blades contained in the 
handle. Do not buy one of those combination 
affairs with miniature chisels, screw-drivers, 
gouges and what-not in the hollow handle. Most 
of these tiny tools are worthless and are merely a 
nuisance. 

For the gimlet secure a real serviceable all-steel 
affair. One of ^-in. size is about the best, but, 
as in the case of the awl, gimlets are so cheap 
you can afford two or three ranging from -ft- in. 
to f in. 

In selecting the bit-brace choose a really good 
one. A poor brace is an abomination, and as 
ratchet braces cost very little more than plain ones 
I advise you to buy one of this sort : you will find it 



TOOLS AND THEIR CARE 7 

mighty handy many times. Plain bits will serve 
yonr purpose, but it is better to buy regular twist- 
drills with bit-stock shanks. With the drills you 
can bore holes without any danger of splitting the 
wood, and if you should strike a nail or screw the 
drill will go through it, whereas the ordinary bit 
would be ruined. The difference in the cost is slight 
and you will save money in the end by getting the 
drills. | in., Am., \ in., f in. and \ in. are the most 
useful sizes. For holes larger than \ in. you will 
find augers most useful and you should add f-in., 
f -in., f-in. and 1-in. augers to your outfit. A single 
"rose" countersink will serve for all ordinary 
work. For the chisels select three, of say i-in., 
i-in. and 1-in. sizes, and be sure to buy the regular, 
straight-edged carpenter 's style and not the slant- 
ing or diagonal-edged type used for special pur- 
poses, turning-lathes, etc. Three gouges of the 
same width as the chisels will be enough. The 
steel square should be of the 2-ft. size, for you 
will find the large square far more useful in gen- 
eral work than a small one. Either a folding 
pocket rule may be selected or a good strong tape, 
but personally I advise the rule, although it is an 
excellent plan to provide both. 
The level may be of wood or steel and should 



8 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

have both a horizontal and a vertical glass. The 
nail-set, sandpaper and pencil need no description, 
but in selecting the compass- or keyhole-saw be 
sure to get a really good one. A poor, soft tool 
of this sort is more trouble than it is worth, while 
one that is too stiff or too brittle will be almost as 
bad. Buy an oil-stone that is wide enough to take 
your widest chisels and plane-irons and select one 
that is of fine, keen grain. The so-called "India 
stones" are probably the best for all-round use. 
For pliers purchase either a pair of round-nosed, 
a pair of flat-nosed and a pair of regular cutting- 
pliers or else get a combination pair of flat-nosed 
and cutting-pliers and a separate round-nosed 
pair. For files you will require a half-round wood- 
rasp, a flat or half-round bastard, a rat-tail file 
and a three-cornered saw-file. 

If you can afford the additional tools mentioned 
select them with equal care. The saw-set and saw- 
vise are very useful and will save a great deal of 
time and expense in sharpening saws, although 
they are not essential for some time to come. The 
expansion-bit is a mighty useful tool, for with it 
you can bore holes of various sizes, and as by its 
use you can do away with the augers, the addi- 
tional expense will be nothing. A couple of small 



TOOLS AND THEIR CARE 9 

iron clamps cost little and will prove very useful, 
and the tack-hammer, which is also inexpensive, 
will come handy in driving small nails, brads, etc. 
The bevel-square is almost a necessity in many 
kinds of work, as are the dividers or compasses, 
and both tools are cheap. The breast-drill will 
often be useful, especially for boring small holes 
in wood and sheet metal, and a small-sized, efficient 
drill of this sort costs very little. The same is 
true of the hack-saw. You will often have occa- 
sion to trim off small pieces of thin wood where 
your finest cross-cut saw would not serve, but 
where the hack-saw will be just the thing. In ad- 
dition, if a nail, screw or other piece of metal must 
be cut the hack-saw will do the work readily, and 
as a good hack-saw frame and a dozen blades may 
be purchased for one dollar there is no reason why 
any amateur carpenter should do without them. 
The draw-knife will save heaps of time in ' ' rough- 
ing out" work and in planing, for it is a useful 
tool, especially if you attempt large work. The 
iron vise will also prove valuable in straightening 
out bent nails, working pieces of metal, hinges, or 
other hardware and in a thousand-and-one other 
ways. Large vises are expensive, but for our pur- 
pose a cheap vise, with 2- or 3-inch jaws, will 



10 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

answer very well. The plumb-bob and line will 
only be required if you attempt building work, 
for on ordinary carpentry the vertical level will 
serve every purpose. The mitre-saw, however, 
will prove a great help in combination with the 
mitre-box, but after you have learned a little about 
carpenter work you can make your own mitre-box 
and can even use your cross-cut saw at a pinch, 
although the mitre-saw will prove far more ac- 
curate and useful. 

Almost as important as the tools themselves 
is their care. A good workman always thinks of 
his tools and keeps them clean, sharp and free 
from rust. If you throw your tools about, drop 
them on the floor, walk over them or use them 
for purposes other than those intended, your tools 
will soon be worthless and you will find that you 
cannot do good work and will become disgusted 
with carpentering. Unless you are willing to look 
after your tools, keep them sharp and put them 
away each time you are through with them, don't 
attempt to do any work and don't buy the tools : — 
it will merely be a waste of time and money. 

You will not need an expensive tool-chest for 
your tools, and one of the first things you can 
make is a little carpenter's tray or box for carry- 



TOOLS AND THEIR CARE 11 

ing your tools about as you work, but the most 
important thing, now that you have the tools, is 
a workbench. You can purchase benches already 
made, but this is not necessary, for it is a very 
simple matter to build one, and for a first lesson 
in carpentry a bench is an excellent subject. Even 
while constructing the bench you will require 
something upon which to work ; and an old, stout 
table, some old chairs with planks across them, 
two saw-horses and a plank, or even the tub-bench 
from the laundry will serve your purpose tem- 
porarily. 

Before you commence work you must find some 
place to put your tools, where they will be within 
easy reach, and you must also select the spot for 
your workshop and for your bench. 

After the bench is made it will be an easy mat- 
ter to arrange a place for everything, but while 
you are making it you will have to hang your 
saws, brace, square and similar tools on nails 
driven in the walls or timbers, and can arrange 
the planes, augers and other tools on shelves or 
boards. If you have a large, dry, clean cellar with 
plenty of light you may convert a part of it into 
a shop or you can use the garret, a vacant room 
or some outbuilding. Even a small carpenter's 



12 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

shop is a noisy place at times and sawdust and 
shavings are sure to be tracked about; so avoid 
a garret or a room in the house, if possible, or 
your family will soon be sorry that you ever be- 
came interested in carpenter's work. 



CHAPTER II 
HOW TO MAKE A WORKBENCH 

In order to construct your bench you will require 
some 2x3 scantling, either rough or finished, and 
some 6- or 8-in. planks. Although your bench will 
not have to be very large or heavy, still it must 
be strong and solid enough to be steady, and 2-in. 
planks should be used. If possible obtain planks 
that are finished, at least on one side, for it is 
a hard job to plane them until after the bench is 
completed, and the finished boards cost very little 
more than the rough ones. 

A good size for your bench will be 6 ft. 6 in. 
long by 2\ ft. in height and 32 in. wide. This 
will be large enough for your present use, and 
later on when you undertake larger work you 
may easily build a bigger and better bench if you 
wish. 

For the bench you will need about 30 running 
feet of the scantling and about 75 ft., board meas- 
ure, of the planks. As the latter are to be 2 in. 
thick the boards will only cover about 38 sq. ft. 

13 



14 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

of surface, so do not be surprised at the amount 
you receive. 

With your ruler measure off four spaces of 2 ft. 
4 in. each on the scantling, and with the square 
mark lines across at each space on two sides of 
the timber. If you have never used a square be- 
fore you will have to learn how, and this is a good 
place to begin. Place one edge of the square along 
the edge of the timber, as shown in Fig. 1, with 
the edge at right angles across the mark you have 
made on the wood, as shown in the cut, and with 
your pencil draw a straight line across the timber 
from side to side. This little detail is quite im- 
portant and is all too often overlooked by amateur 
carpenters. You may think you can rule a line 
across a piece of wood so it is at right angles to 
the edge and you may think you can saw straight, 
but there is no one living who can draw a line at 
right angles to another by eye alone, and mighty 
few men who can saw a straight line without a 
mark to guide them. Unless you acquire the habit 
of always using a square and invariably making 
straight right angles where boards or timbers are 
to join to form a square corner you will never 
succeed at carpenter work. If even one board or 
timber is not squared up properly the whole work 



HOW TO MAKE A WOEKBENCH 15 



will be skewed and slipshod, all of which may 
be easily avoided by using a little care and taking 
a little trouble to begin with. Get in the habit of 
being careful with little things and you will find 
that the results come out wonderfully well, but 



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neglect the small details and you will never 
succeed. 

Having marked off the four sections, place the 
timber across the saw-horses or chairs and ar- 
range it so but one of the sections projects beyond 
the edge. Place your right knee on the timber 
above the end of the horse or chair, grasp your 
cross-cut saw in your right hand and starting it 
with short, gentle strokes across the pencil mark at 
an angle, begin to saw with long, steady strokes. 
You may laugh at such detailed directions for per- 



16 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

forming such a simple feat as sawing off a piece of 
scantling, but not one person in a hundred knows 
how to use even a saw properly. Nine times out of 
ten they waste strength and energy by bearing too 
heavily on the saw or by working with short, quick 
strokes until they look like a steam pump going up 
and down, and when the saw is nearly through the 
wood the outer end sags, cracks and drops down 
with a big splintered piece hanging to it. Re- 
member that only on the downward stroke is any 
work done by the saw; draw it up smoothly with- 
out bearing on and do not bear too hard as you 
push it down. The saw will bite through the wood 
almost as fast with a slight pressure, or none at 
all, as when you bear on hard, and the cut will 
be much straighter and better. When the saw is 
a little more than halfway through the timber 
place your left hand beneath the projecting end 
and support it slightly so it will not fall down and 
split the lower part of the wood. 

After a little practice you will be able to follow 
a line very accurately and will also be able to keep 
your saw running true, and only one line will be 
required across the wood you are cutting. At 
first you should mark' the lines on at least two 
sides of the timber and should watch the saw 



HOW TO MAKE A WORKBENCH 17 

carefully to be sure it is not running off at a slant 
or angle. Oftentimes a saw will stick and bind 
when sawing rough spruce timber. If this occurs 
rub some ordinary laundry soap on the sides of 
the saw; oil will soak into the wood and will do 
little good, but soap will make the saw run 
smoothly and easily. 

The four short sections having been cut off, next 
mark and cut two pieces each 6 ft. long and two 
pieces each 32 in. long. Then from your planks cut 
two pieces each 6 ft. 4 in. long and two shorter 
pieces each 28 in. long. You may now lay aside the 
saw for a time and busy yourself with hammer 
and nails in putting the framework of your bench 
together. To join the various pieces you will need 
several pounds of nails. Wire nails are the best, 
and those you will require should be 4 in. long, 
or just a trifle less, with a few 5 or 6 in. in length. 
Select one of the pieces of plank 6 ft. 4 in. 
long, and at each end measure off exactly 2 
in. and draw a line at right angles to the long 
edge and parallel with the ends by means of the 
square, as shown in Fig. 2. Take one of the pieces 
of timber 2 ft. 4 in. in length and place it on the 
board with the 3-in. side down and with one edge 
close against the line on the plank and with the 



18 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

end flush and even with the edge of the plank 
(Fig. 3). Hold it in this position and tack it to 
the plank with a couple of nails. If you wish you 
can drive the nails almost through before placing 
the piece of timber, and you will probably find this 
the easiest method, for the timber is apt to jump 
about while you drive the nails, and unless you use 
care you will accidentally fasten it in the wrong 
place. After this first piece is nailed in position 
fasten a similar piece on the other end of the plank 
and then turn the plank over and drive two or 
three nails through the plank into the timber, 
using nails of the 4-in. size. 

Lay the plank with the two legs aside for a few 
minutes and fasten two more of the 2-ft. 4-in. tim- 
bers to the other 6-ft. 4-in. plank. Now place one 
of the planks, with the legs, edge down on a level 
place and with the legs sticking up in the air, and 
nail one end of one of the 28-in. pieces of plank 
against the outer edge of the leg as shown in 
Fig. 4. Nail a similar piece to the other leg and 
also drive a few nails through the end of the long 
planks into the end of the short ones as shown in 
the cut. The long plank will now stand without 
your help, resting quite firmly on the two short 
planks. Bring the other long plank with the legs, 



HOW TO MAKE A WOBKBENCH 19 

place it so that the free ends of the short planks 
bear against the outer edge of the legs and the 
ends of the long plank, and secure it with nails 
in this position. You will now have a rectangle 
of 2-in. planks with a leg sticking up at each cor- 
ner like a low wooden fence with four posts. Mark 
off 6 in. from the free end of each of these pro- 
jecting timbers and square a line across with the 
square. Across these lines nail the four remaining 
pieces of scantling, being very careful to have one 
edge straight and close to the lines you have 
marked, and when they are all in place the frame 
will be complete and will appear as in Fig. 5. 

You will be surprised to find how stiff and rigid 
it is, provided the joints have all been made true 
and square, and you can turn it upside down, or 
rather right side up, and proceed to nail on the 
top. 

Cut four pieces from your planks, each exactly 
6 ft. 6 in. in length, and with the ends true and 
square. Place these on top of the frame with 
one end just even with the end of the framework 
and with the other projecting 2 in. beyond it. 
See that the end squares up with the end plank 
on the frame and with the edge of the long plank 
and nail it firmly in position, driving the nails 



20 THE AMATEUE CAEPENTEE 

along the front edge as well as across the ends. 
After you are accustomed to carpenter work you 
will be able to judge distances so well that you can 




Fkl.6 





drive a nail down through a board into a board 
or timber out of sight, but at first you will not be 
able to strike the spot once in a dozen times. You 
must therefore measure off 2 in. from the end of 
the plank on the upper surface where it projects 
beyond the frame, and then drive the nails down 



HOW TO MAKE A WOEKBENCH 21 

an inch beyond this line, thus making sure that 
they will enter the centre of the plank below. 
Nail all the top planks to the framework in this 
way, and then go over the nails with the nail-set 
and drive them down until the heads are well be- 
low the surface of the wood. Probably you know 
how to drive a nail, and I have taken this for 
granted, but even driving a nail properly requires 
some skill. Any one can hammer and whack away 
at a nail and finally get it into the wood. It may 
go straight and it may go crooked, and oftentimes 
it will buckle and bend and turn into a i i Dutch- 
man," as boat-builders call it, and will be driven 
into the wood with its head bent to one side and 
hammered down as shown in Fig. 6. Such a 
thing is an eyesore and a nuisance. If the nail 
starts to go crooked or to bend over, pull it out 
and try another. If the wood is hard, knotty or 
cross-grained, bore a hole smaller than the nail 
before driving it. In most cases, however, the 
fault lies with the man or boy or with the hammer 
rather than in the wood or the nail. A crooked, 
chipped, loose-headed or poor hammer will usually 
result in crooked nails, bruised fingers and loss of 
temper, but even with a perfect hammer some 
knack is required to drive a nail properly and 



22 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

well. Start the nail by holding it between your 
finger and thumb and give it a few short taps of 
the hammer. As soon as it is firmly set in the 
wood strike hard, solid blows squarely on the head. 
Hold the hammer handle near the end, not near 
the head, and after the nail is flush with the wood 
give another tap to slightly sink it beneath the 
surface. On finished wood or delicate work this 
last blow should be omitted, but on rough, heavy 
work or unfinished wood, such as your bench, a 
good strong final whack will drive the head quite 
a bit beneath the surface of the wood. 

After the top of the bench is secured in position 
and the nails are all set beneath the surface, go 
over the bench and add a few of the long nails 
where the lower timbers meet at the ends and 
where they cross the legs, and drive a few more 
down through the top planks into the upper ends 
of the legs. You do not need to fill the planks and 
timbers with nails or to drive them so close to- 
gether that they split the wood, but a few of the 
large nails will greatly strengthen the bench if 
placed with a little judgment. 

Before your bench is complete you should nail 
a piece of the 2x3 timber along one edge, and 
in doing this place the timber at the further edge 



HOW TO MAKE A WORKBENCH 23 

when the projecting end of the top is at your 
right hand. This little 3-in. rail along the rear 
of your bench will prove very useful, for without 
it things will be continually dropping down be- 
hind the bench and getting lost. 

The bench proper is now complete, and if you 
have been careful to follow directions and to 
square up all the corners and cuts you will find 
that it is stiff, steady and firm. If it wiggles or 
tips, test the floor to see if it is truly level be- 
fore you blame the bench or your work. This 
is easily done with your level. Set the level along 
the floor with the glass uppermost and see if the 
bubble swings back and forth and finally rests 
exactly in the centre of the tube at the line marked 
on the glass. Try the level first in one direction 
and then in another over the floor, and if you find 
the bubble ever rests at any other spot except the 
cross-line, you may be sure the floor is not level. 
In this case you will be obliged to nail a piece on 
the floor under the leg or legs of the bench 
to prevent it from tipping, but this is seldom 
necessary. 



CHAPTER III 
FITTING UP THE WORKSHOP 

Befoke your bench can be used to advantage it 
will require several fixtures. The most important 
of these is a carpenter's vise or bench- vise. This 
is a device consisting of a piece of strong wood 
extending from near the floor to the top of the 
bench and so arranged that it can be closed tightly 
like the jaw of a vise by means of a large screw 
and handle. The vise is used for holding boards, 
timber, etc., while working, and is a very useful 
and necessary appliance. 

The jaw, screw and other parts may be pur- 
chased of any dealer in carpenter's tools, and 
can be attached to the bench in a few minutes. 
Another attachment which will prove of great 
value in holding wood while planing is a bench- 
plate. This is a small metal plate set flush with the 
top of the bench and with a notched or toothed 
movable centre, which can be raised or lowered 
and against which the end of a board is placed 
when planing it. A bench-plate is not by any 
means essential, however, for a strip of wood 

24 



FITTING UP THE WORKSHOP 25 

tacked to the bench will do fully as well. If you 
have an iron vise it should be fastened near the 
outer corner of the projecting end of the bench top. 

Many carpenter's benches are fitted with draw- 
ers and box-like ends in which tools, nails, etc., 
are kept, but this is objectionable, as the drawers 
and trays are always becoming littered with shav- 
ings and sawdust, and it is troublesome to find 
an article among the trash. 

It is far better to keep your tools outside of 
the bench and to have your nails, screws and 
other small articles assorted in boxes on top of 
the bench or on shelves close at hand. 

Now that your bench is complete you should pre- 
pare a place for all your tools and in doing this 
you will have occasion to use many of them and 
will thus have a good opportunity to become 
familiar with them. 

After you have become a good carpenter you 
may amuse yourself making a splendid tool 
closet or chest, but for the present this is not at 
all necessary. The tools may be neatly and con- 
veniently arranged on and about the bench, and 
for working outside of the shop a carpenter's tray 
may be made to hold the tools you wish to carry 
about. 



26 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

If the shop has wooden walls or a partition be- 
hind the bench, it will be an easy matter to ar- 
range the tools, but if not the first thing is to put 
up some boards behind the bench, as well as some 
shelves. Ordinary J-in. cheap lumber, known as 
" fence stuff," will do well enough for this work. 
It is very nice to work with clear, straight-grained, 
beautiful wood, but good clear wood is expensive 
and it is a shame to waste it for purposes where 
poor or cheap material will do just as well. Square 
off two or three boards, each 6 ft. 6 in. long; the 
number you will require depending upon the width 
of the boards. If they are 8 in. wide you will 
need three boards, while if but 6 in. wide you will 
want four, the idea being to have an aggregate 
width of 24 in. Nail these firmly to the wall be- 
hind the bench, placing the first and lowest board 
with its lower edge just even with the little ledge 
on the rear of the bench and with the boards above 
fitting close to one another, edge to edge. See 
that the ends all come even and flush. Now select 
a piece of board 8 in. wide by J in. thick and cut 
it true and square, 24 in. long. With your rule and 
square, mark off 2 in. from one edge at one end and 
2 in. from the opposite edge at the other end, and, 
with the long side of your square as a straight- 



FITTING UP THE WOEKSHOP 27 

edge, draw a diagonal line from one of these marks 
to the other (Fig. 1). With your cross-cut saw, 
saw through this line, and to do this you will find 
that your bench-vise will come in handy, for the 
short board may be conveniently held in the vise 
when sawing. Let me call attention to one very im- 
portant detail which you should always remember 
when planing, sawing, whittling or cutting wood, 
and that is cut with the grain. In Fig. 2 this is 
plainly illustrated by the sketch, which shows two 
pieces of wood with lines indicating the grain. 
If you saw or plane in the direction indicated by 
the arrows marked right, the tools as they pass 
along will have a tendency to hold or press the 
fibres of the wood together and prevent them 
from splitting or chipping up, whereas if the tools 
are moved in the opposite direction, as indicated 
by the arrows marked wrong, the tendency will 
be for the fibres of the wood to split, chip and 
spread apart; the plane will become choked, the 
saw will run crooked, and you will have no end of 
trouble. In most wood it is an easy matter to see 
which way the grain runs, but in some kinds of 
timber it is hard to determine it without trying. 
In such cases run a plane along the edge gently, 
and you can at once determine by the result which 



28 



THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 



way the grain runs. In many pieces of wood you 
will find that the grain runs in various directions 
on the different parts of the same piece of lumber. 
Such cross-grained or curly-grained wood is hard 



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to work and the only way to secure good results is 
to use very sharp tools, work slowly and carefully 
and take off small shavings each time. 

But to return to our work. If you should not 
have a piece of board 8 in. wide you will have 



FITTING UP THE WOEKSHOP 29 

to use 6-in. stuff for making the two pieces men- 
tioned. To do this cut a piece 48 in. long, mark 
a line square across it exactly in the centre, mark 
off 2 in. at each end on the same edge and draw 
a line from each of these marks to the centre line 
at the opposite edge (Fig. 3) and saw along these 
two lines, and finally cut the board in two at the 
centre line. 

Up to now you have not had occasion to use your 
planes, but this is a good time to begin. Select 
either one of the wedge-shaped boards you have 
cut, examine it to see which way the grain runs, 
and clamp it firmly in the bench- vise with the diag- 
onal edge up and a few inches above the bench-top 
and with the grain running away from you as you 
stand facing the end of the bench with your right 
side towards the vise. Now take the block-plane 
in your right hand, clasping it firmly back of the 
projecting upper end of the blade and resting 
your left hand lightly on the forward end; place 
the plane squarely and evenly on the edge of the 
wood and push the plane forward, bearing down 
lightly on the wood. If, as the plane runs along, 
it takes off a clean, smooth, thin shaving your plane 
is set properly, but the chances are the blade will 
be either set too little or too much. If you ex- 



30 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

amine the plane you will see a little lever or a 
thumb-screw under the blade (Chap. I, Fig. 4 A). 
By turning this slightly to left or right the blade 
will be drawn further in or pushed farther out 
from the plane and will consequently cut more or 
less at each stroke. Quite a little practice and 
experience is required in order to know just how 
much to set the blade, and it is a good plan to 
practise on some waste material before attempt- 
ing to plane a piece of cut board that you intend 
to use. If the iron projects too far the plane will 
gouge into the wood, will stick, will cut big, thick 
chips and will soon become clogged. On the other 
hand, if the blade is not set enough the shavings 
will be small and very fine and thin, and your 
plane will have little effect on the wood. More- 
over you will find it necessary to set the plane 
differently for different woods and for various 
kinds of work. The plane cannot be set as much 
when planing across the grain as along it, and 
for hard woods it must be set less than for soft 
woods. Having tried various adjustments of the 
plane on a piece of waste lumber, until the plane 
leaves a smooth even surface behind it and takes off 
a thin, curling, fine shaving, proceed to smooth off 
the rough saw marks from the edge of your wedge- 



FITTING UP THE WORKSHOP 31 

shaped boards. Endeavour to run the plane in 
long even strokes the whole length of the edge, for 
if you take short strokes and finish one part of 
the wood at a time the edge will be wavy and 
irregular. When the edge is smooth run the plane 
once or twice along each corner to take off the 
sharp square edges and to leave the edge slightly 
rounded, as shown in section in Fig. 4. Now 
place the two pieces with the diagonal sides op- 
posite and the straight edges together, as in Fig. 
5, and measure off a space £ in. from the straight 
side of each and draw a line from top to bottom, as 
shown in the cut. Lay the two pieces aside and 
from a piece of 2-in. plank cut two strips 1 in. wide 
and 24 in. long. To do this measure 2-| in. from 
the edge of a 2-in. plank at frequent intervals 
and run a straight line through the marks with a 
ruler or the straight edge of your square. Then 
with your rip-saw, saw down this line, being sure 
to cut with the grain. In using the rip-saw, place 
the board to be cut with a foot or so projecting 
beyond the support, such as a bench, horse or 
other object; place your right knee on the board 
with your face towards the projecting end and 
with the mark to be sawed at your right. Start the 
saw slowly and carefully and then with long, 



32 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

steady strokes, using scarcely any pressure, saw 
along the line. When nearly at the support move 
the board further forward and proceed until the 
desired length of cut has been made. It is far 
easier to make a true, straight cut with a rip-saw 
than to cut squarely with a cross-cut saw, and you 
will be delighted at the rapid, business-like man- 
ner in which your sharp new saw eats through 
the wood. If the cut is long you may find that 
the saw binds and sticks and in this case push 
little sticks or wedges into the cut behind the saw 
as you proceed. This will keep the two sides of 
the cut apart and prevent the saw from binding, 
but be careful not to use wedges that are too thick 
nor to push them in too far or hard or you will 
split the wood ahead of the saw or cause the saw 
to run off to one side. Also remember that the 
cut made by a rip-saw is quite a bit wider than 
that made by a cross-cut saw, and hence allow for 
this when laying out work and marking wood to 
be ripped. The two pieces you require may be cut 
out separately from a short plank or they may be 
cut as a single strip 4 ft. long and then sawed in 
two. If the plank from which the pieces are cut is 
but 2 ft. long or a trifle longer, it may be secured 
upright in the bench-vise and sawed in this posi- 



FITTING UP THE WORKSHOP 33 

tion, which will perhaps prove easier than sawing 
it supported on a bench or horse. 

When the two strips are sawed out, clamp one 
of them in the vise with the grain running away 
from you when your right hand is towards the 
bench, and with your jack-plane smooth off the 
rough saw marks and splinters. In using your 
jack-plane you will have to adjust the blade ex- 
actly as you did that of your smoothing- or block- 
plane, but for the first smoothing with a jack, the 
blade can be set more than for the finishing with 
the block-plane. As soon as one edge of the strip 
is smoothed turn the next edge uppermost, being 
careful to examine the grain to see which way it 
runs, and thus smooth off each rough edge in turn. 
When this is done go over them again with the 
block-plane, but do not round the edges as on the 
diagonal piece described. Leave all but one edge 
sharp and square, but smooth one of the four cor- 
ners off at an even, smooth slant or bevel, as shown 
in Fig. 6. 

Now place these pieces side by side on the bench 
with the bevelled edges together and the 2-in. sides 
uppermost and the ends flush and even, and meas- 
ure off three spaces, making the first mark 6 in. 
from the end, the next 6 in. from the first, the third 



34 



THE AMATEUR CAEPENTEE 



6 in. from the second, thus leaving a space of 
6 in. at the other end (Fig. la). With the straight 
edge of the square or a rule, run a line down the 
centre of the sides of the pieces marked so that 
each piece appears as in Fig. lb. Clamp one 
of the pieces in the bench-vise with the marks 




Fro. 6 



towards you and just above the jaw of the vise. 
With a |-in. bit or drill bore through the strip at 
each of the intersecting lines, being careful to bore 
straight and true, and repeat the operation with 
the other strip. 

Next place your countersink in the brace and 
ream out the holes where they enter the marks, 
but not on the opposite side. The next step is 
to mark a line along the wedge-shaped boards 
from top to bottom just J in. from the line al- 
ready made £■ in. from the straight edge, and 
on this new line make four dots or crosses, 



FITTING UP THE WOBKSHOP 35 

the first being 3 in. from the lower end of the 
board and the next three 6 in. apart, as shown in 
Fig. 8. Bore ^-inch holes at each mark and ream 
out the ends at the marks with the countersink. 
With your square, mark across each end of the 
board from the line that is £ in. from the edge. 
Place one of the strips in the bench-vise with the 
bevelled edge down and the countersunk ends of 
the holes towards you. Place one of the wedge- 
shaped boards on the strip with the diagonal 
edge towards you and the countersunk holes 
uppermost and arrange it so that the inner 
edge of the strip is true and flush with the marks 
across the ends of the board (Fig. 9). Hold- 
ing it in this position insert 2 in. x J in. wood- 
screws in the holes of the board and screw them 
into the cleat beneath. In order that they may 
run true and straight and to make the work easier 
you should insert the brad-awl or one of the small 
gimlets in each hole before inserting the screws, 
and mark the spots in the strip in the vise. Then 
lay the board aside, and with the brad-awl, or a 
fine gimlet or drill, bore an inch or so into the 
strip at the marks made by the awl. It will then 
be an easy matter to start the screws. Repeat this 
operation with the other strip and board, and if 



36 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

you have done the work correctly the two boards 
will have the two strips on the inner sides of the 
wedge-shaped pieces when placed side by side 
with the bevels together. The next thing is to 
put up these brackets, for that is what they are. 
This is an exceedingly easy and simple matter, 
for it is only necessary to place one at one end 
of the boards above your bench, with the straight 
rear edge fitting neatly over the ends of the 
boards, and screw the cleat firmly to the boards 
through the holes already provided. If you have 
put up the boards carefully the two brackets will 
be even and equidistant from the floor and bench, 
but it is a good plan to measure from the floor to 
the brackets to make sure before screwing the 
second one in position. The brackets in place, all 
that remains to do is to saw a board 6 ft. 8 in. 
long and 6 in. wide, plane off one edge and round 
the corners and fasten this on top of the brackets 
by screws or nails driven down through the top. 
As the upper ends of the brackets are even with 
. the upper edge of the boards fastened to the wall, 
the shelf will cover these edges, and if a few nails 
or screws are driven through the back of the shelf 
into this board it will make it very strong and 
rigid. You may now arrange your tools, and in 



FITTING UP THE WORKSHOP 37 

doing this you must use your own judgment and 
ideas to a large extent. You will find the shelf 
very useful for small tools, papers, odds and ends, 
boxes of nails, etc. Beneath it, on the boards, 
nails may be driven for hanging up braces, 
squares and various other tools. On the sides of 
the brackets you may place nails or hooks to hold 
the saws. For your bits, drills and augers you 
may use a block of wood with holes drilled into 
it, but a better plan is to bore a number of holes 
through a long strip of wood and screw this to the 
boards back of the bench. Then arrange the va- 
rious drills and augers in this in regular order, 
and when they are all in position mark the size 
of each on the wood over the hole. This will be 
a great time-saver, for you can always tell just 
where each size drill is to be found, and if you 
always put them back in their proper places when 
done with them, they will not become mislaid and 
lost, and at a glance you can tell if one or more 
are missing, and if so, which ones. In arranging 
the* tools hanging on the boards, mark around each 
one as it is placed in position. This will enable 
you to invariably put each tool back on its proper 
nails or hooks and will save confusion. For keep- 
ing the gouges and chisels, a few holes bored 



38 



THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 



through the projecting top board of the bench will 
serve very well. The planes may be kept on their 
sides on the bench or shelf, but a better plan is 
to make a little rack to hold them, by nailing 
strips to the bench so that the planes will just 




fit within them with the blades protected from 
contact with the bench. Finally you should bore 
three f -in. holes in the front plank of the bench, 
each 2 in. apart and about 3 ft. from the bench- 
vise. A peg should be made to fit tightly in the 
holes and you will find this a most useful if simple 
device for supporting the end of a long board 



FITTING UP THE WORKSHOP 39 

when planing or working at it in the vise. When 
the tools are all arranged your bench and equip- 
ment will be ready for work and will be neat and 
orderly and will appear more or less as shown 
in Fig. 10. 

As a great deal of your work will be outside of 
your shop and you will have to carry a number of 
tools, etc., about with you, you will need a car- 
penter's tool-tray. As this is a simple thing to 
make, your next lesson in carpentry may well be 
devoted to making this useful part of your outfit. 



CHAPTEK IV 

HOW TO MAKE A TOOL-TRAY AND A MITRE- 
BOX 

In making the workbench and the shelf for your 
tools the work has been rather heavy and rough, 
but in constructing a tool-tray you may obtain 
excellent practice in doing really accurate and 
careful work, and in addition will have an op- 
portunity of using several tools you have not be- 
fore employed. 

For the tray you will require some ^-in. 
wood, and if you wish you may use hard or fancy 
wood, such as walnut, mahogany, oak or cherry. 
A tray made of such materials will be very hand- 
some, and such a small quantity of lumber is re- 
quired that the additional expense of using fancy 
wood will be very little. Even if ordinary pine 
or whitewood is used the finished tray may be 
stained and varnished and will be very attractive. 
Whitewood is far superior to pine for work of 
this sort and it is easier to get good, clear white- 
wood than pine and it is also cheaper. Avoid 
using yellow-pine or cypress for light, small work ; 

40 



TOOL-TRAY AND MITRE-BOX 41 

they are both excellent woods for certain pur- 
poses, but they are apt to split unless care is used 
and they are harder to work than white-pine or 
whitewood. 

The amount of material you will require for 
the tray will be about 10 sq. ft. of the ^-in. stuff 
and a piece of f-in. material, 2 ft. long and 10 in. 
wide. If possible, obtain material of the full 
width, but if you cannot do this you can use 
boards 6 in. or more in width. ' 

On one of the J-in. boards measure off and mark 
two rectangles each 20 in. long and 5J in. wide 
and two others each llf in. x 5J in. with the grain 
running lengthwise in all. Cut these out care- 
fully, being sure to get all corners square and 
all sides and ends parallel. Measure off 1^ in. 
from each end on one edge of each of these pieces 
and draw a diagonal line to the opposite edge 
from each of these points (Fig. 1). Saw carefully 
across each of these diagonal lines so that you 
will have four pieces all 5^ in. wide; two of them 
20 in. on one edge and 17 in. on the other and the 
other two llf in. on one edge and llf on the 
other. Now on the piece of J-in. stuff measure 
off a rectangle 19 in. x 9f in. From one edge 
of this mark off 4J in. and draw a straight line 



42 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

parallel with the edge but just 4J in. from it. 
From each end of this second line measure off 
1J in. and draw a diagonal from each of these 
marks to the other edge, as shown in Fig. 2. 
Next measure off 9J in. from the extreme ends of 
the rectangle, thus finding the exact centre and 
draw a line across from edge to edge and square 
with the marks that designate the edges (Fig. 
2 A). Two and one-half inches above the lower, 
lengthwise line and 2 in. below the outer line, 
make a mark (Fig. 2B), and with your square 
mark a line at right angles across the mark B, 
and extending 2 in. on either side (Fig. 2D, D). 
With the 1-in. auger bore two holes through the 
board, centring the auger at the marks B, B, and 
from the edges of these holes draw a curved line 
as indicated, with the upper point of the 
curve 1 in. above the point B, and the lower part 
1^ in. below B. Now from the intersection of the 
upper end of the diagonal marks and the line 
4J in. from the edge C, C, mark a graceful curve 
extending to the extreme outer edge as shown 
at F, F. You may have difficulty in making this 
curve alike on both sides of the line A, but this is 
readily overcome by drawing the curve for one 
side on a piece of stiff paper, cutting out the 



TOOL-TRAY AND MITRE-BOX 43 

paper and laying it upside down, or reversed, on 
the opposite side of the line A. Then by tracing 




along the edge of the paper pattern both the 
curves will be identical. 

In the above directions I have assumed that 
your £ board was 10 in. in width. In case you 
can not secure a board of that width you will be 



44 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

obliged to fasten two narrower boards together, 
edge to edge. In order to make a good job of 
this the two edges that are to join must be planed 
smooth, true and even so they fit flush together. 
When this is done place them tightly edge to 
edge and tack two or three light cleats across the 
joint, and having the joint near the bottom edge, 
which is 16 in. long, instead of near the longer 
top edge. This is important, as the joint or seam 
if near the bottom will not matter at all, whereas 
if near the top it will show in the finished tray 
and will weaken the tray besides. 

When all the marks on the piece are made as 
shown in Fig. 2 saw across the diagonal lines from 
C to G. Place the board in your bench-vise with 
one end uppermost and with your compass-saw 
cut along the line F F from C to C. With the 
compass-saw commence at the hole D and follow 
around the line to the other hole and then back 
along the other line to the opposite hole. 

With the rasp and files smooth off the saw 
marks on the curved lines and finish the curved 
edges rounded and smooth with sandpaper. If 
you have sawed all the boards carefully the cut 
lines will be straight and smooth and free from 
chipped or split spots, and if you are to have 



TOOL-TRAY AND MITRE-BOX 45 

a neat tray this is important. The next step is to 
plane off the long edges on the other four boards 
and take a small shaving from their sharp cor- 
ners so they are slightly rounded. They should 
not be appreciably rounded, however, but merely 
smoothed. Now place one of the smaller pieces 
in the bench-vise with the diagonal end up and 
in such a position that the diagonal cut is parallel 
with the top of the bench. With the brad-awl or 
a fine drill make several holes along both ends 
of the larger pieces and | in. from the ends. 
Place one of these pieces so that the end is ex- 
actly flush with the end of the piece in the vise, 
and with small wire nails (about 1^ in. long) 
inserted through the holes you have made, tack 
the long piece firmly to the shorter one. Place 
the other short piece in the vise and fasten the 
other end of the long piece to it in the same way. 
Then place the long piece on the bench with the 
two end pieces sticking up and fasten the other 
long piece to them in the same manner. You 
will now have a rectangular frame 20 in. long at 
the top, and 17 in. long at the bottom with a top 
width of 12| in. outside and a bottom width of 
9f in. Place this frame with the largest, or top 
opening, upon the bench and secure it firmly by 



46 



THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 



tacking short cleats to the bench on all four sides 
close to the frame. Then with the block-plane 
cut down the edges of the frame until they are 
level or square across in all directions. This will 
be easier to understand by studying Fig. 3. As 
the edges of the four pieces are square and the 




pieces are fastened together at an angle the outer 
corners will be higher than those on the inside as 
indicated at A. Therefore these outer corners 
must all be planed off until the edge of your 
square, when placed across from side to side or 
from end to end, rests squarely upon the parallel 
surfaces of the edges as shown at B. By planing 
carefully and frequently trying the square you 
will find this an easy matter to accomplish. When 
this is done measure off at the upper and lower 
edges of the ends to find the exact centres and 
draw a line across from side to side. Along these 



TOOL-TRAY AND MITRE-BOX 47 

lines bore several holes with a drill or awl. Now 
turn the frame the other side up on the smooth 
surface of the bench and place the centre piece, 
cut from |-in. stuff, within it and with the ends 
C — G exactly in the centre of the end pieces of 
the frame. This is easily accomplished as you 
have the centre lines and holes already drilled in 
the ends. Insert nails through the holes, drive 
them into the ends of the J-in. centre piece and 
the tray will be ready for the bottom. 

For this you will have to get out a piece of |-in. 
stuff 17^ in. long and 10 in. wide. If you have 
no wood of 10-in. width fit two pieces together as 
already described. Saw the piece with all ends 
square and true and with your ruler and square 
mark a line completely around the bottom just 
£ in. from the extreme edges. Place the bottom 
piece in the bench-vise and with your block-plane 
round off all the edges, being careful not to carry 
the planing beyond the line marked around the edge. 
It is very easy to plane off the long edges with 
the grain, but when you come to the ends across 
the grain you will have to be very careful not to 
split or chip the corners. To avoid this, plane 
diagonally, rather than straight, across the grain 
and before planing across the ends round the cor- 



48 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

ners slightly with a few strokes of the plane or 
a pocket knife (Fig. 4). Now clamp the centre 
piece, or handle, of the tray in the vise with the 
bottom of the tray uppermost. With the drill or 
awl make a number of holes around the edges of 
the bottom board, using care to bore them just 
■J in. within the line you have marked -J in. from 
the edge. Place the bottom board over the frame 
in the vise ; move it about until the line -J in. from 
the edge is just flush with the outer edges of the 
frame and drive nails through the holes up into 
the frame. Use nails that are not over 1J in. long 
and drive them slightly outward at an angle, as 
shown in Fig. 5. Across the centre of the bottom 
from end to end drive nails into the centre piece 
and your tray will be complete, save for the finish- 
ing touches. If you have used two pieces to make 
the centre and bottom you may now remove the 
cleats that held them together. With the nail-set 
sink all the nail-heads well below the surface of 
the wood and with sandpaper go over the whole 
tray, smoothing off all edges, corners and the 
surface until no rough spots or pencil marks 
remain. About \ in. from each side of the centre 
piece and at both ends, saw straight slits about 
2J in. deep, using care in sawing them so as not 



TOOL-TEAY AND MITRE-BOX 49 

to split the wood. In these you can put your saws 
when carrying them about. When the wood is 
smoothed to your satisfaction, putty up the de- 
pressions over the nail-heads and stain, oil or 
varnish the entire tray. When completed it will 
be a handy, useful article and should appear as 
in Fig. 6. 

Another extremely useful adjunct to the car- 
penter shop is the mitre-box. Indeed for many 
kinds of work a mitre-box is absolutely necessary, 
and as you will soon require it in your work it is 
a good plan to make a mitre-box at once. 

The material you will require for the box is 
f-in. stuff at least 6 in. in width and sufficient to 
make three pieces each 18 in. long. If possible 
use hard fine-grained wood, such as straight- 
grained birch, cherry, oak or beech. Although 
soft wood is easier to work with and will serve 
your purpose, yet a far more accurate and 
enduring box may be constructed from hard 
wood. 

The first step is to mark off a rectangle 18 in. 
long and 6 in. wide on a piece of the board, and 
in doing this use the greatest care to get all 
the corners square and the lines parallel. The 
least inaccuracy in making the mitre-box will re- 



50 



THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 



suit in a finished box which is worthless and 
worse than none at all. On the rectangle you 
have marked out measure off 9 in. from one end 
and draw a smooth straight line across from one 
side to the other (Fig. 1 A — A). One inch from 
this draw another line across from side to side as 
at B — B, and exactly 6 in. from this draw another 




: f—-0 — * — o *-— ©- — *"— - -£>*« 



line as at C — C. Then with a straight-edge draw 
a heavier line diagonally from C to B. Two 
inches from the line A, towards the other end 
of the board, draw a line D — E. With a pair of 
dividers or compasses, or with a piece of string 
fastened to a nail and with a pencil at the other 
end, draw a quarter-circle as at E — H, the radius 
being exactly 6 in. and the centre of the circle 
being the point where the edge of the rectangle 



TOOL-TRAY AND MITRE-BOX 51 

intersects the line D — E, as indicated in the illus- 
tration. Without altering the adjustment of the 
dividers or the string, place the leg of the dividers, 
or the nail that holds the string, at the corner II 
and draw a section of a circle intersecting the first 
circle at the point F. Now with a straight-edg-3 
draw a diagonal line from D to G so that it will 
pass through F. 

Then saw out the rectangle, following the lines 
from / to J , from J to K, from K to H and from 
H to /. Of course if the end and side of the board 
have been used for two of the edges, as / — J — K 
you will only have to saw the other two edges. 
Then get out two more pieces, each 6 in. wide by 
18 in. long, using care to get all edges and ends 
square and parallel. Drill five ^-in. holes through 
one edge of each of these pieces, making the 
holes \ in. from the extreme edge and placing 
one in the exact middle between the ends, others 
1 in. from each end as shown in Fig. 8, and the 
others equidistant between them. Clamp the piece 
with the diagonal marks in the bench-vise and screw 
the sides to it, being careful to have the surface 
without the marks absolutely flush and even with 
the lower edges of the sides. You will thus have 
a rectangular trough 18 in. long with sides pro- 



52 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

jecting 5^ in. above the bottom and with the marks 
A — A, B — C and D — E in view between the sides. 
Place one edge of your square along the corner 
formed by one side and the bottom of the box and 
move it until the lower corner of the square is 
exactly even with the point where the diagonal 
line from B meets the line C, and with the pencil 
draw a line straight up the side of the box along 
the edge of the square. Do the same with the 
other end of the line where it joins B and repeat 
the operation at the points D and G and at both 
ends of the line A — A. Next place one edge of 
the square along the outside of one side of the 
box and with the other arm of the square across 
the edges of the sides and move it until the edge 
is in line with the line from C in the top of the 
box. Rule a straight line across the edge at this 
spot and treat each of the other marks on the 
sides of the box in the same manner. All this is 
plainly shown in Fig. 9. 

With your cross-cut saw, cut straight down 
through the sides of the box across the lines 
marked on the edges of the box and carrying 
the cut down until the saw strikes the bottom of 
the box. If you use care and saw straight and 
true, guiding your saw by the lines on the inner 



TOOL-TRAY AND MITRE-BOX 



53 



surfaces of the sides, the saw will cut across the 
bottom exactly on the lines C — B, A — A and D — G, 
and to accomplish this requires the greatest 
care and is the most difficult part of construct- 
ing the mitre-box. 

The box will now be complete and ready to 
use, and to test it is an easy matter. Place a 
straight piece of wood in the box with one edge 




resting against one of the sides on the bottom 
and placing your saw in the cut from C to B, saw 
through the piece of wood while holding it firmly 
in position with your thumb pressing it against 
the inside of the box. Do the same way with an- 
other piece and then lay the pieces on a flat sur- 
face with the two bevelled, or diagonal, ends to- 
gether and with your square test them to see if 
their edges come true with the square as shown 



54 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

in Fig. 10. If everything has been done care- 
fully you will find the pieces form a perfect 
square, or right-angle, corner, for the line B — C 
is at a 45-degree angle. In making frames, join- 
ing corners of various objects and in numerous 
other ways this box will prove useful, for the line 
B — C will enable you to cut true corner-angles 
for square objects; the line D — G will guide you 
in cutting an angle for making six-sided objects, 
and the line A — A will be a guide for cutting 
square ends. With the cross-cut saw care must 
be used not to enlarge or mar the slits in the 
sides of the box, for if this is done the box will 
soon become worthless. A mitre-saw, which is 
a fine-toothed saw stiffened with a thick back, is 
far better, and if you intend to use a mitre-box to 
any extent you will do well to secure a mitre-saw 
as soon as possible. 



CHAPTER V 
LEARNING TO MAKE JOINTS 

There are a great many methods of joining two 
pieces of wood together, and the particular kind 
of joint to be used depends a great deal upon 
the material, the strength required, the character 
of the work in hand and upon the skill of the 
carpenter. 

In former times all joints were made by hand 
and carpenters became very expert in making 
accurately fitting and beautiful joints of all kinds. 
Doors, windows, chests, drawers, boxes and a 
thousand and one other articles were made by 
hand with beautifully-fitted tenons, dovetails or 
similar joints. Nowadays nearly every kind of 
joint can be made far more accurately and rapidly 
by machinery, and there are scores of excellent 
carpenters who do not know how to make a good 
dovetail or other complicated joint. 

The simplest of all methods of joining two 
pieces of wood is to merely nail or screw the two 
pieces together as shown in Fig. 1. For very 
rough work this serves every purpose, but the 

55 



56 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

joint made in this way is clumsy and not very 
strong. A better way of joining two pieces of 
wood is by a half-and-half joint. This consists 
in cutting away half the material on each piece 
to be joined as shown in Fig. 2. This method is 
quite strong and if carefully done it makes a very 
serviceable and neat joint. This joint may be 
used either for pieces that join at right angles or 
for pieces joined with a mitre as shown in the 
figures. Ordinarily for mitre joints, however, it 
is merely necessary to nail the two pieces to- 
gether edge to edge as shown in Fig. 3. A still 
stronger joint is the Tenon Joint, several forms 
of which are shown in Fig. 4. This is an excellent 
form of joint where neatness and strength are 
required and especially for joining the ends of 
timbers or for fastening uprights or cross-pieces 
in other timbers or scantling, It also makes an 
excellent joint for mitred work. For joining fine 
work such as furniture, drawers, cabinets, chests, 
etc., a form of joint known as the Dovetail is 
commonly employed. There are many varieties 
of dovetail joints, some of which are shown in 
Fig. 5. Most of the joints are very easy to make, 
but to fit a good dovetail requires great care, skill 
and practice. A form of dovetail which is just 



LEARNING TO MAKE JOINTS 57 




Fw.4 



<bk; 



i=r 



..u 



-i-H 

^r. i-M 



58 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

as neat and strong as any other is shown in Fig. 
6, and this, moreover, is fairly easy to make, as 
it consists of holes bored in the piece A which 
are fitted over wooden pegs in the piece B. In 
making any of these so-called "mortised" joints 
you must use care and must work accurately if 
you expect good results. Before making a half- 
and-half joint, as shown in Fig. 2, lay off the 
measurements and mark the work carefully before 
starting to make any cuts. The distance from 
A to B and from C to D should be the same as 
from G to J and E to 7. If the two pieces to be 
joined are of equal dimensions the measurements 
will all be equal, but if the two pieces are of 
different sizes each piece must be marked to cor- 
respond with the dimensions of the other. The 
cut B to E and the cut D to F should each be one- 
half the thickness from E to L or from F to M, 
or one-half the thickness of the pieces to be joined. 
The cuts should all be made smooth, square and 
true and the surfaces to be joined (N) should be 
smooth and even. In making a mitred halved- 
joint a little more care must be taken, but the 
principle is the same as in the plain halved-joint. 
The cuts A — B, C — D should be made in the mitre- 
box and while A — B should go but halfway 



LEARNING TO MAKE JOINTS 59 

through the wood that from C to D should go clear 
through. On the piece E a cut at right angles to 
the edge C — G should be made half through the 
piece and when the two pieces are joined the junc- 
tion will be scarcely visible. In making a tenon- 
joint as shown in Fig. 4 the cuts A — B and C — D 
should be equal, while G — H should be the same 
as E — F. There is no trouble in making this sort 
of joint, as it merely requires care in cutting and 
chiselling. In making the hole I it is often easiest 
to bore a hole through the wood first and saw 
from the end to this hole as indicated in Fig. 4 J , 
or else bore two holes and saw from one to the 
other with the keyhole-saw as shown in Fig. 4 K, 
afterwards smoothing the ends square with a 
chisel. 

To make a dovetail joint lay off the piece A 
first and cut the recesses with a fine saw and sharp 
chisel. Then place the piece over B and with 
a sharp pencil mark around each of the " tails' ' 
and cut corresponding recesses in the piece B. 
For common work the distance from C to D must 
be the same as from E to F, but if particularly 
good work is desired and you plan to make a 
"blind" joint the distance must be the same from 
C to D as from G to H. The one great secret in 



60 



THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 



making dovetail joints is to work slowly and care- 
fully and fit the pieces from time to time as you 
proceed until you are sure that they fit closely 
and accurately together. In making the form with 
holes and pegs, cut away a space on A, Fig. 7, 
with the distance from B to C equal to the thick- 
ness of the piece D and with only a very thin 




portion left at D — E. Mark the distance from 
F to G on the piece D and draw a line parallel 
with the end at this distance from it, G—H. 
Along this line mark several points at equal dis- 
tances and from these run lines to the edge as 
shown at / — J , K — L, M — N. Then with a twist- 
drill or sharp auger bore holes on each one of 
these lines. The holes should be of smaller diam- 
eter than the distance from I to J , etc., and the 
outer edge of the holes should just touch the ex- 
treme end of the piece D as shown in the figure 
by the dotted lines. Now place the two pieces 
D and A together in the position in which they are 



LEARNING TO MAKE JOINTS 61 

to be joined and mark the places where the holes 
come on the piece A. With the bit or drill bore 
holes half an inch deep or so into A. Make a num- 
ber of smooth, round, wooden pegs that will just 
fit smoothly into the holes and drive them into the 
holes in A, fastening them securely with glue. 
Slip the piece D over the pegs after coating all 
the surfaces with glue, and drive or press the 
pieces firmly together. After the glue is thor- 
oughly dry trim off the projecting pegs and 
smooth the edges and you will have a joint that 
is exceedingly strong and very neat and which is 
invisible from the front, or A, side. Properly 
this is a dowel-joint rather than a dovetail, and 
you will find it a great convenience to buy dowel- 
pin stock already made rather than to try to make 
perfectly true, round pegs yourself. 

All the joints described are particularly adapted 
to joining pieces of wood at right angles, but it is 
often necessary to join pieces end to end or edge 
to edge. The commonest way of joining wood or 
boards edge to edge is by the T ongue-and-Groove 
method (Fig. 8). This is a simple way and boards 
and timber may. be purchased already cut or 
" matched' ' with tongues and grooves or the young 
carpenter may buy matching-planes with which 



62 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

lie can cut his own tongues and grooves as he re- 
quires them. Another method of joining boards 
edge to edge is by half-and-half joints as shown 
in Fig. 9, while still another method is to cut 
grooves in the edge of each board and drive a thin 
piece of wood into these as shown in Fig. 10. 
Where two timbers or scantlings are to be fas- 
tened end to end to obtain greater length there 
are several methods of joining which may be 
used. One way is to make a half-and-half joint 
as shown in Fig. 11, and after placing the two 
pieces together bore a hole through the timber 
and drive a peg in the hole as shown in Fig. 11a, 
which prevents the two pieces from pulling apart. 
In place of boring a hole and using a peg a square 
notch may be cut in each piece and a square 
dowel driven in as shown at Fig. lib. A better 
method is to cut the timbers as shown in Fig. 12 
and use either a peg or a square dowel as indi- 
cated at Fig. 12a. Still another method is shown 
at Figs. 13 and 13a ; while by cutting the timbers 
as indicated in Fig. 14 the peg or dowel may be 
dispensed with. 

In making mortised joints always try to have 
them fit so snugly that they must be driven to- 
gether with light blows of a mallet or a piece of 



LEARNING TO MAKE JOINTS 63 




Fig. 8 



Fig. 9 




Fig. 10 




K\v\S\W 



^3 



Fig. 11 




Fig. 12 




Fig. 11a 



-^. 




Fig. 11& 




Fig. 12a 




Fig. 13 



Fig. 13a 




Fig. 14 



64 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

wood and in all light, fine work, or where the wood 
will not be exposed to dampness or wet, make the 
joints with glue. Glue if well made is a great 
aid to the carpenter, but if poor in quality or care- 
lessly made it is worthless and a nuisance and 
every amateur carpenter should know how to 
make and use glue properly. 

If you are going to use glue you must have a 
double glue pot of some sort. Those sold for the 
purpose are the best and are not expensive, but 
an old saucepan and a smaller pot to set inside 
of it will answer every purpose. Use only the 
best sheet glue and place it in enough water to 
cover it and let it stand overnight. Drain off the 
superfluous water, place the pot in the larger pot 
or pan, which should be partly filled with water, 
and heat until the water boils. Let it continue 
to boil until the glue is thoroughly melted and 
soft and use it hot. Do not use too much glue; 
place a thin, even coating over the surfaces to be 
joined and press firmly together. If the weather 
or the material is cold warm the pieces slightly 
before applying the glue. If the wood is soft 
and porous give the surfaces a coating of thin 
glue (made by adding hot water to the glue) and 
allow this to harden before applying the glue for 



LEARNING TO MAKE JOINTS 65 

fastening the parts together. Do not use pre- 
pared or liquid glues; they are all very well for 
mending broken dishes, ornaments and work about 
the house, but for good carpenter work the best 
freshly prepared glue is essential. Glue may be 
made waterproof by adding a strong solution of 
alum to the soft glue and stirring it thoroughly. 
No matter how well you prepare the glue or how 
excellent its quality the results, will be unsatis- 
factory unless you use it properly. Good, com- 
mon glue, if properly used, will unite two pieces of 
wood so firmly that the fibres will part from each 
other before the glue will break, and yet nine 
times out of ten amateurs cannot glue two pieces 
of wood together so they will withstand any strain 
whatever. The first point which must be attended 
to is to bring the cement or glue into perfect con- 
tact with the surfaces to be united. This seems 
very easy, but in reality it is quite difficult unless 
one goes about it properly. The great obstacles 
to the absolute contact of any two surfaces are 
dirt and air. The former is easily removed and 
a clean surface is readily obtained, but it is not 
so easy to remove the air which is universally 
present. All surfaces are coated with a thin ad- 
hering layer of air which bears, to the outer sur- 



66 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

face of the bodies, a relation very different from 
that maintained by the ordinary atmosphere. 
Until this layer of air has been removed it pre- 
vents the absolute contact of the surfaces and 
consequently proper adhesion of the glue. This 
thin layer of air may best be observed by dipping 
a piece of metal or wood in water, when the air 
may be seen adhering to the object in the form 
of a silvery film or numerous tiny bubbles. A 
drop of glue allowed to fall upon a surface of 
dry wood will seldom adhere to it at all, but if 
the same drop is rubbed upon it, it will adhere 
firmly. Thus pressure and friction should be 
used in using glue. Another point to be remem- 
bered is to use just as little glue as possible. If 
the two pieces are separated by a large mass of 
glue the strength of the joint will only be that of 
the glue itself and will not depend upon the ad- 
hesion of the two surfaces. Most people make 
the mistake of thinking that the more glue they 
use the stronger will be the joint, but as a matter 
of fact just the opposite is the case and the less 
glue used the stronger the joint, providing the 
surfaces are covered evenly with the glue and a 
perfect contact is obtained. Cleanliness is also 
of great importance. Dirty, old, sour or spoiled 



LEARNING TO MAKE JOINTS 67 

glue will not make a good joint and the best glue 
in the world will not hold on pieces of wood that 
are greasy, dirty, covered with old glue, paint or 
shellac, or that have fine sawdust or sandpaper- 
dust adhering to them. If two surfaces of wood 
that are dirty or coated with paint or old glue 
are glued together the joint will not be one of 
wood to wood but of dirt to dirt, or paint to paint, 
and the joint instead of having the strength of 
wood will have simply the strength of dirt or old 
paint. Even the mere rubbing of a wooden sur- 
face with dirty hands will prevent the glue from 
forming a strong joint. Finally remember that 
glue, being an animal substance, must be kept 
sweet, and to do this it is necessary to keep it cool 
after it is dissolved and before it is used. Keep 
the glue-pot clean and sweet by frequently clean- 
ing out all old glue and replacing with fresh. Good 
glue requires more water than poor, and con- 
sequently you cannot dissolve five pounds of the 
best glue in the same quantity of water that would 
dissolve five pounds of poor glue. The best 
quality will require from one-half to more than 
double the water required for cheap, poor glue. 
The quality of glue can be readily ascertained by 
breaking a piece of the dry sheet. If good it will 



68 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

break hard and tough, and when broken will leave 
an irregular edge with cracks running from it. 
If poor it will break easily and will leave a smooth, 
almost even, edge. 

When dissolving glue it is best to weigh the 
glue and measure the water. If this is not done 
you can seldom get two batches of glue alike and 
there is a liability of getting more glue than the 
water can possibly dissolve. When once the 
quantity of water that a sample of glue will take 
up has been ascertained, put the glue and water 
together at least six hours before heating and if it 
is not soft enough then let it remain until it is 
thoroughly soft, for there is no danger in letting 
really good glue remain in pure water for forty- 
eight hours. In cold weather you can save time 
in soaking by keeping your glue frozen. Glue 
that is frozen is very porous and will soften much 
quicker than when allowed to merely cool and 
harden and it is just as strong when heated and 
used. Good glue can be used very thin and if 
properly used. the wood joint will be as strong 
as the material itself. There is no advantage in 
using white glue except in the case of white or 
light-coloured woods where dark glue would show. 
White glue is merely ordinary glue bleached. 



CHAPTER VI 

SHARPENING TOOLS 

No matter how carefully you use your tools they 
are bound to become dull in time, and the most 
skilful carpenter in the world will fail to produce 
really good work if he is compelled to use dull 
tools. It takes a great deal of care and some 
practice to sharpen tools properly and a great 
many tools are ruined or made worse than dull 
by improper sharpening. 

It is far better to sharpen tools a little at fre- 
quent intervals than to wait until they are very 
dull and then have to sharpen them a great deal. 
There is an old saying that a . " Good workman 
never quarrels with his tools,' ' and the reason 
that this is true is because the good workman 
keeps his tools sharp and in the best possible con- 
dition. 

Every tool is designed both in shape, strength 
and the form of its cutting edge for some specific 
purpose, and to enable it to perform the work for 
which it is designed to the best advantage the 

69 



70 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

cutting edge and its shape must be maintained in 
its original form. 

The most widely used and commonest of all 
tools is the common penknife, a tool that is used 
either to cut, split or scrape, but as its duty is 
primarily and mainly that of cutting, its edge is 
designed to that end and it should be sharpened 
for cutting, which will not prevent it from per- 
forming the other duties it is called upon to ac- 
complish. If, however, the edge of the knife was 
sharpened for scraping or splitting it would not 
serve so well for cutting as a cutting edge would 
serve for splitting or scraping. 

The edge of any cutting tool is in section like 
a wedge and the sharpness or keenness of the 
cutting edge depends upon the acuteness of the 
angle or wedge and upon how nearly we can 
make the two sides or facets at the thin edge of 
the wedge meet without danger of turning or 
bending the edge as well as upon the smoothness 
and evenness of the edge itself. The difficulty 
in doing this is due to the weakness of the steel, 
which if too soft will bend and turn and if too 
hard will chip and break. In a new tool the 
acuteness of the wedge or edge is fixed by the 
maker, and in resharpening the tools we must aim 



SHAEPENING TOOLS 



71 



to maintain this angle or wedge as nearly as pos- 
sible. If we grind a tool or a knife upon a grind- 
stone and then examine it under a microscope or 
a powerful lens we will find that it appears like 
an irregular saw, as shown in Fig. 1. This saw- 




edge is due to the fact that the surface of the 
grindstone is composed of innumerable grains, 
some harder and some coarser than others, and 
the larger and harder grains cut more rapidly and 
deeply into the steel than the smaller and softer 
ones, and within certain limits the harder the 
blade is pressed upon the stone the deeper and 
more irregular will be the cuts. In Fig. 1 the 
blade is shown as it would appear after being 



72 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

held against a stone with the surface of the latter 
at right angles to the blade as indicated by the 
dotted line A — B, and hence the little teeth on 
the edge stand at right angles to the blade. If 
the blade is held at an angle to the stone, as in- 
dicted by the line E — F in Fig. 2, the teeth will 
be at an angle as shown. Suppose, then, that we 
hold one side of the blade against the stone in 
the position shown and the other side at a re- 
versed angle, then the little teeth will cross one 
another, leaving it less irregular and sawlike than 
if both sides were ground as in Fig. 1 or Fig. 2, 
and as the smoother we can get the edge the 
better the results, we can realise that this is the 
best position in which to hold the blade. After we 
have ground both sides if we examine the edge of 
the blade again we will find that in section it 
appears as in Fig. 3, the edge being elongated 
into an extremely thin, curved extension. The 
reason for this is that the metal is so weak that 
it bends and gives to the pressure against the 
stone and the harder that it is pressed against the 
stone the greater will be this curved, bent elonga- 
tion. It, therefore, follows that while we may 
press the blade firmly against the stone when we 
first commence to grind the blade, it should be 



SHARPENING TOOLS 73 

held lightly towards the finish to avoid this bent 
edge, which is known as a "feather-edge." As 
soon as we attempt to use a knife or other tool 
with such an edge the thin, bent portion breaks 
off, leaving a flat edge to the blade and thus mak- 
ing the tool dull. The amount of the edge that 
will break off depends upon the pressure applied 
to the tool and the direction and manner in which 
it is used, and as the greater the pressure and the 
harder the work the more will break off it is 
obvious that tools for light, easy work can stand 
a thinner edge than tools adapted to heavy, hard 
work. In order to remove the feather-edge of a 
knife it should be drawn lightly across a piece of 
soft wood, first lengthwise of the grain and then 
across it, after which the blade may be sharp- 
ened to keen edge on a fine oil-stone. 

There is still another important item in re- 
gard to this feather-edge, and that is that the 
amount of feather-edge obtained depends a great 
deal upon whether the tool is held pointing to- 
ward the direction of rotation of the stone or with 
it. Thus in the diagram Fig. 4 the blade held 
against the stone in the direction of rotation as at 
C would have a long feather-edge, whereas the 
blade held against the rotation as at D would have 



74 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

a very short feather-edge, and therefore the latter 
is the better position. 

Unfortunately, if the stone has a soft spot 
in it or is at all out of true, the tool may 
catch and cannot be held steadily and true and 
a good edge becomes impossible. To obtain a 
finer cutting edge than is possible to obtain on 
the grindstone or emery wheel recourse is had 
to oil-stones. The action of an oil-stone is to 
smooth and polish the surfaces and thus remove 
the feather-edge and the sawlike indentations. 
Although the oil-stone does this, yet if not prop- 
erly used it leaves another form of turned edge 
known as a Wire-edge, which is shown in section 
in Fig. 5. In holding the blade to the oil-stone it 
is necessary to keep the face of the blade as level 
as possible with the stone as at Fig. 6B, while at the 
same time exerting more pressure near the cutting 
edge than elsewhere. On the other hand if the 
blade has been frequently sharpened on an oil- 
stone without regrinding it may be held at a 
greater angle as at Fig. 6 A, which will result in a 
more durable and keener edge. No matter what 
the angle used that same angle must be maintained 
whenever the blade is sharpened, for otherwise a 
rounded, dull edge will result as shown in Fig. 5 B. 



SHAKPENING TOOLS 75 

In sharpening a knife blade the motion necessary 
during the operation is shown in Fig. 7, the motion 
of one side of the blade being from A to B and the 
motion of the other side being shown at C — I), 
the blade being frequently turned over and the 
strokes being short and light to avoid forming 
a wire-edge. 

The same general principles apply to various 
other tools, except that each tool requires being 
held at a different angle. Thus a chisel must 
be held at approximately the angle of its bevelled 
face as shown in Fig. 8 and must be sharpened 
only on one side, while a plane iron must be held 
at a different angle and sharpened on one surface 
only (Fig. 9). The great secret in sharpening 
tools is to preserve the original angle of the blade 
as first made, sharpen frequently, use plenty of 
oil on the oil-stone, keep the stone clean, use plenty 
of time and do not press too hard on the stone and 
thus form a wire-edge. 

All these directions apply to edged, or cutting- 
tools, but to sharpen saws is quite a different 
matter. 

If you look along the edge of a saw you will 
see that the little teeth project over each side of 
the blade and that the teeth alternate, one pro- 



76 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

jecting one way and the next the other way and 
so on. This is known as the "set" and is a very 
important matter. Each kind of saw has a dif- 
ferent set and a rip-saw has a much greater set 
than a cross-cut saw, while a mitre-saw has still 
less set. The more the saw is set the wider will 
be the cut it makes and the less accurate the work 
which can be done with it. If you get too much 
set on a cross-cut saw it will be difficult to use it, 
and it will stick and chip in the wood, whereas 
too little set on a rip-saw will cause it to bind and 
saw crookedly. Examining the teeth of the saw 
more carefully you will find that they are not 
all the same, but that the forward or cutting 
edges alternate, one tooth being sharpened at an 
angle on one side and the next on the opposite 
side. This is an important matter also, for in use 
each of the teeth acts as a tiny chisel and each 
tooth, as the saw is pushed against the wood, cuts 
away a little of the material. If all the teeth 
were sharpened on the same side the teeth would 
cut only on one side and the saw would make a 
crooked cut and in addition would bind and clog. 
It is not at all difficult to sharpen a saw after 
you once know the principle, but in order to do 
it properly you must have a saw-clamp of some 



SHARPENING TOOLS 77 

sort and a three-cornered file for sharpening saws. 
The clamp may be a ready-made affair which 
costs less than one dollar or you may use a make- 
shift clamp by securing the saw in the vise be- 
tween pieces of wood. In filing a saw it is only 
necessary to take a little care and follow the 
angle of the teeth as they have been sharpened 
in the first place. Always hold the file nearly 
level; file a few teeth and then turn the saw over 
and file the alternate teeth on the opposite side, 
and if they shape up evenly turn the saw back 
and work with the handle at your left and file all 
the teeth on that side, — that is, every other 
tooth. This side finished turn the saw with the 
handle at your right and file the teeth on this 
side, which will be the ones you did not touch 
when working at the other side. Be careful not 
to file too much. A single light rub of the file 
is sufficient if the saw is kept in good shape and 
filed as soon as dull. Be sure and hold the file at 
the same angle at every tooth and make a straight, 
smooth angle on the teeth, — not a curved or 
rounded edge. It is best to try filing on an old 
and poor saw until you are adept, for a little care- 
lessness or improper filing will ruin a good saw. 
In order to set a saw you must have a saw-set, 



78 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

which is not expensive and is a very handy tool. 
These are very simple to use, as the saw is merely 
inserted in the space between the jaws and the 
handle squeezed, thus bending the tooth to one 
side. The set is then moved along, skipping a 
tooth, and the next tooth set and so on with every 
alternate tooth on one side, when the saw is 
turned over and the operation repeated with the 
teeth that bend towards the other side. The only 
care necessary in setting a saw is to get the 
amount of set just right, and the only way to 
determine this is to experiment with an old saw 
or else ask some experienced person to adjust the 
set for you. 

If you use your saws carefully and take care 
not to drop them, bang them around and avoid 
sawing against nails, grit, metal, etc., your saws 
will give good service for a very long time before 
they require setting at all. 

Another tool which requires frequent sharpen- 
ing, and which is frequently ruined by improper 
sharpening, is the screw-driver. It may sound 
funny to talk of sharpening a screw-driver, for 
a screw-driver is usually considered a very dull 
tool, but unless this useful instrument is kept 
properly sharpened it will perform very poor 



SHARPENING TOOLS 79 

work and you. will injure many a screw-head by 
the driver slipping from the notch. 

In driving- a screw into wood the force used 
to press the screw-driver against the head of the 
screw tends to aid the latter in penetrating the 
wood, but when we attempt to extract a screw 
every pound of pressure we apply tends to ren- 
der it more difficult to get the screw out. It there- 
fore becomes very important that the screw-driver 
should be so formed that it will retain its position 
in the notch of the screw with the exertion of a 
very little pressure. If it has a tendency to slip 
out we can only keep it in position by applying 
more pressure, and each time it slips it mars the 
edges of the slot and its own edge and thus re- 
quires still more pressure to keep it in place. If 
we examine a screw-driver in the condition in 
which it is ordinarily found we will find that in 
section it appears somewhat as in Fig. 10, with 
the sides of the wedge-shaped end somewhat con- 
vex. Now the effect of this curve is to render the 
tip more obtuse, and when the driver is turned 
the tendency is for the screw-driver to slip from 
the slot and this tendency will increase in direct 
proportion to the amount of convexity that is 
found on the sides of the blade. This form, there- 



80 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

fore, is the worst that can be used for a screw- 
driver and yet it is the commonest in drivers that 
have been used or sharpened frequently. In the 
hands of good carpenters we will find that the 
blades of their screw-drivers are perfectly straight 
as in Fig. 11. This is a great improvement over 
the other, but it is far from the best form, which 
is with concave sides as shown in Fig. 12. Now 
and then we will find a carpenter or a^mechanic 
with screw-drivers sharpened to this form, and 
to use such a tool is a pleasure. Such a screw- 
driver will seldom or never slip from a good 
clean slot and screws can be extracted with 
scarcely any pressure being exerted to keep the 
tool in position. To sharpen a screw-driver in 
this form is almost impossible without a small 
grindstone or emery wheel, but the next best form 
with straight sides can be obtained on an ordinary 
grindstone or oil-stone. 



CHAPTER VII 
WOODS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 

Every carpenter should know something of the 
properties and peculiarities of various woods. 
Only in this way can he know which wood is the 
best adapted to the work he has in hand. In a 
general way woods are divided into two classes, 
hard woods and soft woods, but many of the so- 
called soft woods are quite hard and several of 
the so-called hard woods are really quite soft. 
Pine, spruce, hemlock, cedar, cypress and similar 
woods are the commonest soft woods, while oak, 
beech, birch, maple, walnut, mahogany, rosewood, 
etc., are hard woods. In reality black-walnut is 
not very much harder than various soft woods, 
while mahogany and Spanish cedar are soft and 
easily worked. Each and every wood is par- 
ticularly adapted to certain purposes, but in addi- 
tion a great many woods are known as " cabinet " 
or "finishing" woods, as they are mainly used for 
the purpose of ornamental work or finishing. 
Each wood has some properties peculiar to it- 

81 



82 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

self, but many possess properties common to sev- 
eral varieties. In such cases it often makes very 
little difference which one of several woods is 
used, but in other cases some certain variety must 
be selected to fulfil all requirements. Among the 
most noteworthy properties of the commoner 
commercial woods and the purposes for 
which they are most widely used, are the fol- 
lowing : 

Elasticity: Ash, hickory, hazel, lancewood, 
chestnut, red-cedar, yew, snakewood, apple, 
orange, Oregon-spruce, spruce, fir. 

Elasticity and toughness combined: Oak, beech, 
elm, lignum-vitae, walnut, hickory, ash, hornbeam, 
apple. 

Even grain for carving or engraving: Pear, 
pine, apple, box, orange, lime-tree, black-walnut, 
beech, birch, maple. 

Durability in dry work: Cedar, oak, poplar, 
yellow-pine, chestnut, white-pine, cypress. 

Ship and boat building: Cedar, white-pine, fir, 
elm, oak, locust, teak, mahogany, Spanish cedar, 
cypress. 

Durability in contact with water : Oak, cypress, 
white-cedar, teak, mahogany, Spanish cedar, elm, 
alder, beech. 



WOODS AND THEIE PROPERTIES 83 

House building : Pine, oak, whitewood, chestnut, 
ash, spruce, sycamore, cypress. 

Machinery and millwork: Ash, beech, birch, 
pine, elm, oak, hickory, maple. 

Tools: Beech, birch, pear, maple, apple, box, 
elm, cherry, locust. 

Rollers, etc.: Box, lignum-vitae, hickory, oak, 
birch, maple, ash. 

Foundry patterns : Alder, Spanish cedar, white- 
pine, mahogany, whitewood. 

Furniture: Beech, birch, cedar, cherry, pine, 
black-walnut, whitewood, maple. 

Cabinet work: Mahogany, black-walnut, tulip- 
wood, ebony, teak, walnut, oak, rosewood, satin- 
wood, cedar, Circassian walnut, bird's-eye-maple, 
curly-birch, etc. 

By this it will be seen that certain woods are 
used for a great variety of purposes and are al- 
most equally well fitted for all the uses, whereas 
others are so much better adapted to some par- 
ticular purpose that they are seldom used for 
anything else. Hard woods and fancy or orna- 
mental woods with crooked or curly grain are 
difficult to work and are very expensive and as a 
general rule it is far better to use the commoner 
softer and cheaper woods and either stain or finish 



84 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

them to imitate other woods or else bring out 
their own natural beauties. Style and custom have 
a great deal to do with the woods used for orna- 
mental or fancy work. At one time black-walnut 
was very stylish; mahogany and rosewood have 
had their days; light-coloured woods, such as 
bird's-eye-maple and curly-birch, came into vogue 
and Circassian walnut was all the rage at one 
time. From year to year the styles change, but 
all woods are beautiful if properly finished and 
even a piece of plain white-pine, if oiled and var- 
nished, has a lovely appearance. 

If woods are to be stained to imitate some other 
variety, the kind of wood to be used must be 
selected with reference to this, for it is impossible 
to stain a coarse-grained wood to imitate one with 
a fine grain or vice versa. 

When staining wood it is not only important 
to know how to prepare and apply the staining 
solutions; the operator must have a knowledge 
of the properties of the various woods and their 
relation to the stains themselves, for with the 
same stain very different effects may be pro- 
duced when applied to various kinds of wood. 

This is partly due to the porosity of the wood, 
but more to the varying chemical composition of 



WOODS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 85 

the timber itself. The greatest factor is the pres- 
ence or absence of tannin, which has a chemical 
action upon many stains and alters their colours. 
As an example, a piece of pine or fir, which con- 
tains but little tannin, when stained with a weak 
solution of chromate of potash becomes a pale 
yellow which will soon fade. The same solution, 
however, when used upon oak, which is rich in 
tannin, produces a beautiful brownish-yellow 
which is quite durable, for the tannin of the wood 
combines with the potassium chromate to form a 
brown dye in the wood-cells. 

The same principle occurs in the case of other 
stains, such as sulphate of iron, which scarcely 
shows at all on pine or fir, but which in contact 
with the tannin in oak or walnut produces a light 
blue-grey. 

The hardness or softness of wood or its porous 
quality also has a great influence upon the result- 
ing effect of stains. Soft woods with large pores 
absorb more stain and the latter sinks deeper 
into the wood than in the case of hard, close- 
grained woods, and hence when staining soft 
woods you must use weaker stains to produce the 
same tint or shade than when treating hard woods, 
or else a stain of a less penetrating or greasier 



86 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

character must be used or the wood must first be 
treated to prevent it from absorbing too much 
stain. 

Even the same stain when applied to the same 
kind of wood does not always produce the same 
shade or effect. The wood varies as to the amount 
of sap or rosin it contains according to the soil 
in which the tree grew, its age and the season at 
which it was felled, and as rosin resists the pene- 
tration of the stain the colour may be lighter or 
darker according to the amount of resinous ma- 
terial in the cells of the wood. Moreover the 
colour of the wood itself varies and one may 
find all sorts of shades of pine, oak, walnut, etc. 
Each of these shades will appear different when 
stained, and if you wish to stain several pieces 
of wood to match up you must select pieces of 
the same shade and of the same quality as re- 
gards sap or rosin, porosity and chemical com- 
position or else must adapt your stains to pro- 
duce the desired result in pieces of varying 
character. 

These facts all render it difficult to obtain ex- 
actly the desired colour or tint in a stain at the 
first attempt, and for this reason you should try 
the stains on sample or specimen pieces of the 



WOODS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 87 

wood before trying them on the finished article. 
In many cases also the final colour cannot be 
judged until some time after the stain is applied, 
for many stains develop their ultimate colours 
slowly under the action of the air and the chemi- 
cals in the wood and oftentimes the colour changes 
appreciably for forty-eight hours or more after 
applying. Hence wood that has been stained 
should be allowed fully forty-eight hours after 
being stained before the final varnish, oil or polish 
is applied. If any dampness is left in the wood 
when the varnish is used it will later manifest 
its presence by producing a dull or whitish spot 
on the finished surface. Moreover it is usually 
wiser to give several thin coats of stain to obtain 
a desired result rather than to attempt to obtain 
the full depth of colour with one application of a 
strong stain. In such cases each coating should 
be given ample time to dry thoroughly be- 
fore applying the next coat. Another item also 
enters into the successful art of wood-staining. 
Many dyes which are widely used cannot be mixed 
or combined, and this is particularly the case with 
the aniline or coal-tar colours, and as many of 
them are apt to fade they should be avoided as 
far as possible and only true, fast, chemical, 



88 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

mineral or vegetable colours should be used for 
durable work. 

Many wood stains, especially those known as 
"water" or "spirit" stains, have a tendency to 
roughen the surface of the wood, but this can be 
remedied either by treatment of the wood before 
staining or by sandpapering afterwards. The 
latter process lightens the colour of the stain, 
but it brings out the grain well. The best method 
of preparing the wood beforehand is to dampen 
it thoroughly with warm water applied evenly 
with a sponge and after it is thoroughly dry sand- 
paper it smooth. Many stains are so rapidly and 
readily absorbed by the wood that it is difficult to 
stain the material evenly on a large surface. This 
may be overcome by rubbing the surface of the 
wood with raw linseed oil applied with a woollen 
rag and allowing it to thoroughly dry, after which 
the surface is sandpapered smooth. After this 
treatment the stain will spread evenly and will be 
less readily absorbed. 

The following formulas will be found useful and 
reliable in producing stains of various shades or 
in imitating well-known woods, and the amateur 
carpenter will find a great deal of interest and 
pleasure in producing the colours and effects of 



WOODS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 89 

rare and expensive woods on plain pine, spruce, 
whitewood, etc. But you cannot get the desired 
effect unless you use care in selecting the wood in 
reference to the similarity of its grain to that of 
the wood you wish to imitate. For mahogany, 
plain whitewood, beech, birch, cherry and similar 
close-grained woods should be used. For black- 
walnut, whitewood or fine-grained pine ; for ebony, 
use a hard, fine-grained wood or whitewood; for 
rosewood select ash, oak, cypress or coarse- 
grained pine, and so on with each particular wood 
you wish to counterfeit. 

Ebony Stains 

1. To one pint of boiling water add f oz. of 
copperas and 1 oz. of logwood chips. Apply to 
wood when hot. When thoroughly dry wet the 
surface with a solution composed of 7 oz. of steel 
filings dissolved in J pt. of vinegar. 

2. Treat the wood with several applications of 
a strong decoction of logwood chips and when dry 
treat with vinegar in which rusty nails have been 
soaked for a week or more. 

3. In 1 qt. of water boil \ lb. of logwood chips 
and add J oz. of pearl ash and apply the mixture 
hot. Then boil the same quantity of logwood in 



90 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

the same amount of water, adding ^ oz. of verdi- 
gris and J oz. of copperas, after which strain and 
add J lb. of rusty steel filings. With this latter 
mixture treat the wood already stained and repeat 
the application until the desired depth of black is 
obtained. 

Rosewood 

1. Boil J lb. of logwood in 3 pts. of water 
until the liquid is very dark and then add 1 oz. salt 
of tartar. When at the boiling point stain the 
wood with two or three coats, letting each coat 
partly dry before applying the next. 

2. Treat as above and rub with asphaltum dis- 
solved in alcohol or turpentine. 

Walnut 

1. Prepare a solution of 6 oz. of permanganate 
of potash and 6 oz. of sulphate of magnesia in 2 
qts. of hot water. Apply the solution to the wood 
with a brush, allow it to dry and give a second coat. 

2. Dissolve 1 part (by weight) of extract of 
walnut peel in 6 parts warm water, heat to boiling 
point and stir. Apply one or two coats of this to 
the wood while warm and when half dried brush 
over with a solution of 1 part (by weight) of 



WOODS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 91 

bichromate of potash in 5 parts of boiling water. 

3. One part permanganate of potash dissolved 
in 30 parts clear water. Stain the wood with two 
coats and after five minutes rinse off with plain 
water, dry and finish. A fresh solution should be 
prepared each time. 

4. Asphaltum dissolved in alcohol or turpentine 
and rubbed in until desired shade is produced. 

Oak 

1. Dark or antique oak effects may be produced 
on oak by the use of bichromate of potash dis- 
solved in cold water and applied in repeated coats 
until the desired effect is obtained. 

2. Very dark weathered oak effects may be 
obtained by the use of the following : 4 oz. of log- 
wood chips and 3 oz. green copperas boiled to- 
gether in 2 qts. of water for 40 minutes and ap- 
plied hot. When dry wash with a solution of 4 oz. 
of steel filings dissolved in 1 pt. of strong vinegar. 

3. Oak may be darkened by using the walnut 
stains already given, or other woods may be 
stained to imitate oak by using the walnut stains 
in thin solution. 

4. Dissolve J part of permanganate of potash 
in 1,000 parts of cold water and coat the wood with 



92 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

the violet solution obtained. The tannin in the 
wood will alter the stain to a rich golden-brown. 
Sponges or glass-thread brushes should be used 
with this solution, as it destroys bristle-brushes. 

5. Silver-grey or mission-grey is obtained by 
dissolving 1 part of pyrogallic acid in 25 parts 
of warm water and using this to coat the wood. 
When dry treat with a solution of 2 parts green 
vitriol in 50 parts of boiling water. 

6. Grey is also obtainable on oak by using a 
solution of 20 parts of copperas dissolved in 1,000 
parts of water. 

7. Asphaltum dissolved in alcohol and applied 
thin will give a rich brown. 

Mahogany 

1. Dissolve powdered red sanders (obtainable 
in any drug store) in alcohol, using about 2 oz. of 
the sanders to 1 qt. of spirits. Strain and apply 
with a brush or rag. Thin the solution according 
to the colour you wish to obtain. A very dilute 
solution will produce the appearance of cherry 
or dark oak or Spanish cedar, while a browner 
tint may be obtained by adding a little asphaltum 
varnish or by rubbing with asphaltum in alcohol. 

2. 1 oz. socotrine aloes; J oz. dragon's blood; 



WOODS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 93 

rectified or pure alcohol, 1 pt. Dissolve, strain and 
apply one or more coats according to shade de- 
sired. 

3. Logwood, 2 oz. ; madder, 8 oz. ; fustic, 1 oz. ; 
water, 1 gal. Boil for two hours and apply several 
coats while hot. When dry brush over with a 
solution of pearl-ash, 1 oz. in 1 qt. of water. 

4. Rub the wood with a solution of nitrous acid 
and then with a brush apply the following: 
dragon's blood, 1 oz. ; sodium carbonate, 6 dr.; 
alcohol, 20 oz. Strain and filter before use. 

5. Rub the wood with a solution of potassium 
carbonate in the proportion of 1 dr. to 1 pt. of 
water and then apply the following: Madder, 2 
oz. ; logwood chips, ^ oz.; water, 1 qt. boiled and 
strained. 

Maple 

1. Pale button-lac, 3 lbs. ; Bismarck brown, ^ 
oz. ; Vandyke brown, ^ oz. ; gamboge, 4 oz. ; methy- 
lated spirits, 1 gal. 

2. One gal. methylated spirit; 4 oz. powdered 
gamboge; ^ oz. Vandyke brown; 1 dr. Bismarck 
brown; 3 lbs. shellac. 

3. A weak solution of any of the walnut stains 
recommended. 



94 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

Beech 

See Mahogany. 

Cherry 

See Mahogany. 

Spanish Cedar 

Weak red sanders solution and thin solution of 
asphaltum varnish dissolved in alcohol. 

Yellow of various shades may be obtained by 
the use of picric acid solutions or of gamboge dis- 
solved in alcohol. 

Browns of almost any tint may be obtained by 
using asphaltum dissolved in alcohol or turpentine 
and rubbed in with a rag. 

Combinations of the red sanders and asphaltum 
stains will produce nearly any desired shade of 
red-brown, brown or deep red, and if used very 
dilute, almost any of the lighter-coloured reddish 
or brownish woods may be imitated. 

Spirit Stains 
Black 

1. White shellac, 12 oz. ; vegetable black, 6 oz. ; 
methylated spirit, 3 pts. 



WOODS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 95 

2. Lampblack, 1 lb.; ground iron-scale, 5 lbs.; 
vinegar, 1 gal. 

Brown 

Alcohol, 2 pts. ; burnt-umber, 3 oz. ; Vandyke 
brown, 1 oz. ; carbonate of soda, 1 oz. ; potash, ^ oz. 

Varnish Stains 

Shellac is the chief basis of varnish stains, the 
colouring matter being either aniline dyes or dye- 
woods. A little elemi resin should be added to 
the mixture, as ordinary rosin is brittle and pre- 
vents the varnish from drying rapidly. 

Water Stains 

These may be made of chemicals, aniline dyes 
or vegetable dyes as already directed for several 
stains described above. In addition to these there 
are Cassel and nut brown in granules, while 
catechine is also good. For bright-coloured dyes 
the only things are aniline or coal-tar dyes such 
as azine green, croceine scarlet, Parisian red, tar- 
tr azine, orange 'G,' water-soluble nigrosin, walnut 
and oak-brown. For blue or violet use methyl 
blue, naphthol-blue, and pure-violet and when dry 
treat with a solution of nutgalls or tannin. 



96 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

After the wood is stained and dry it should 
be smoothed with fine sandpaper, rubbed with oil, 
varnished or wax-finished, according to the pur- 
pose and style of finish desired. 

Very beautiful mottled or grained effects may 
be obtained upon wood by the judicious applica- 
tion of heat. Fine sand heated almost red-hot and 
scattered irregularly upon light or dark woods will 
give splendid "curly" or mottled effects, while 
a piece of red-hot iron bar held here and there 
close to the surface of wood will make imitation 
"bird's eyes." The same effect may also be pro- 
duced by using drops of acid, such as nitric or 
sulphuric acid, and when the proper depth of 
colour is obtained washing with strong soda solu- 
tion. Pine and other woods may be made exceed- 
ingly ornamental by going over them with the 
flame from a common gasolene blow-torch such 
as plumbers use. If the flame is not held too long 
in one spot and is passed back and forth over the 
wood the grain will appear in rich brown on a 
golden background the depth of colour depending 
upon the heat applied. 

There are various ways of finishing woods and 
each method has its advantages and is particularly 
suited for certain classes of work. Wood may be 



WOODS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 97 

painted, varnished, polished, oiled, waxed or shel- 
lacked, but as a rule the best method to follow 
is that which is the most durable and at the same 
time the most attractive. Where fancy or orna- 
mental wood is used or where the wood is of good 
quality it is a pity to hide its natural beauties 
with paint, for even the commonest woods when 
well finished with oil or varnish are very beauti- 
ful. Paint is all very well in its place and for 
rough work or where poor wood is used or where 
it is exposed to weather there is no better finish, 
but for inside trimmings, cabinets and furniture, 
or wherever possible to do so, aim to finish the 
work with oil, varnish or wax, and thus bring out 
the natural beauty of the wood and its attractive 
grain. If you use a varnish use a good one. 
Cheap varnishes do not pay. The very best is the 
cheapest in the end. Remember that oiling wood 
darkens it and even if it does not darken it at 
once the wood will grow darker and darker with 
age. Shellac should never be used where wood is 
exposed to water or dampness, as water turns 
shellac white. A splendid finish may be obtained 
by merely rubbing with oil, and this gives a dull 
satiny surface which withstands hard wear and 
which may be readily touched up and refinished 



98 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

at any time merely by rubbing with oil. Highly 
varnished or polished surfaces are easily scratched 
or marred and are hard to keep in good repair, 
but a rubbed-varnish surface is very durable. It 
is slow, hard work to produce a rubbed varnish 
surface, however, and few amateurs care to at- 
tempt it. If the wood is porous or the grain 
open it should be given a coat of some good filler 
before applying the varnish or oil. 

When oiling wood use plenty of force and rub 
hard and when varnishing use a good soft brush 
with bristles which will not come out and do the 
work in a warm, dry room free from dust and do 
not touch it or disturb it until completely dry and 
hard. The great secret in varnishing is to use 
good varnish, good brushes, keep the work clean 
and free from dust and do not hurry the work. 
The best and most durable varnishes are slow- 
drying. If the first coat is not smooth or shiny 
enough rub it down with pumice stone and water 
and apply a second coat. This may be given a 
dull satiny surface by rubbing again and almost 
any degree of glassy smoothness or high gloss 
may be obtained by applying successive coats of 
varnish and rubbing down each one before apply- 
ing the next. Nearly any dealer in paints, etc., 



WOODS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 99 

can tell you the best varnish or oil to nse for your 
work and can furnish you with detailed directions 
as to their use. 

A great deal of the most expensive furniture is 
finished with a so-called French Polish. . This is 
nothing but high-grade shellac rubbed down with 
a wad of cloth by hand. It is hard, slow work and 
requires an immense amount of skill and practice 
and is not worth the trouble for your amateur 
purposes. A good smooth varnish finish, if care- 
fully laid on, will do just as well. Still another 
sort of finish is the " Rubbed Varnish,' ' which 
gives a beautiful satiny, mirror-like surface often 
seen on pianos. This is obtained by giving the 
articles repeated coats of varnish and rubbing 
each down to a perfect surface with pumice or 
rotten-stone and water. Almost the same effect 
can be obtained much easier and more cheaply 
with some of the ready-prepared wax polishes, 
however, and for your purpose these will answer 
just as well. 



CHAPTER VIII 
CARPENTRY ABOUT THE HOUSE 

I have already told yon how to put up a shelf for 
your workshop and while rough and ready shelves 
of this sort do very well for cellars, garrets, store- 
rooms and other out-of-the-way places they would 
not serve in living-rooms, dining-rooms, kitchens 
or other places where shelves are frequently re- 
quired. In such places shelves must be made 
neatly and must conform in style and finish to 
the rest of the room. If the room is in the Mission 
style the shelves should be in the same style, both 
in form and finish and so with every other style 
of room furnishings. Corner shelves are quite 
easy to make, as they are fitted snugly into a cor- 
ner and may be easily and neatly secured in posi- 
tion, but even in putting up corner shelves you 
should aim to make the job as neat and artistic 
as possible and should have them in harmony with 
the other fittings. As a rule shelves should be 
made in units, so they may be readily taken down 
instead of being built into a room permanently. 

Where screws or nails are to be driven into a 

100 



CARPENTRY ABOUT THE HOUSE 101 

plaster wall small holes should first be made and 
you should be careful to strike a lath or timber, 
for if merely driven into the plastering the sup- 
port will not hold and moreover the plaster is 
likely to break and chip away. By using a light 
hammer or mallet and striking here and there on 
the wall a lath or timber may usually be located 
by the sound, but if this cannot be done a very fine 
brad-awl may be run carefully into the plaster 
here and there until a lath is located. The very 
small hole made by the awl may be readily plas- 
tered or filled up, and if in paper it will not be 
visible. 

Wherever possible attach the shelves to other 
woodwork. Oftentimes at least one support may 
be screwed to a window-frame, a corner moulding, 
a mantel or some similar wooden object. Shelves 
should be fastened in such a way that the screws 
or nails and cleats are concealed or at least are 
not prominently in view. 

Single shelves may be put up with ready-made 
iron brackets where appearances do not count for 
so much as utility, or brackets made of wood in 
conformity with the rest of the furnishings of the 
room may be used. Light shelves may often be 
hung to a wall, especially a wooden wall, with 



102 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

hooks, or eyes over screws, driven into the wall. 
Such shelves are easily removable and in many 
cases are superior to any other form! Where 
shelves are placed one above another a very neat 
method is to let the ends of the shelves set into 
slots or recesses in the end pieces, which are held 
together either by fastening them directly to the 





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shelves or by tie-pieces across the back and front 
edges (Fig. 1). 

Shelves which may be readily taken down and 
packed flat may be constructed as illustrated in 
Fig. 2. In this case the ends of each shelf are 
cut away as shown in A and rectangular holes of 
the proper size are cut through the end pieces, B. 
Through the projecting ends of the shelves 
wooden wedges are thrust and thus the end pieces 
are kept securely locked in position (C). Such 
shelves may be hung with hooks to screws or may 



CARPENTRY ABOUT THE HOUSE 103 

be fastened to the wall through a back piece or 
cleat. The same method may be followed in con- 
structing book-shelves or music-racks to stand 
on the floor but in this case rigidity must be ob- 
tained by a cross-piece at top and bottom which 
should be attached to the sides with screws (Fig. 
3). By making a book-shelf in this way and cut- 
ting holes through the ends at frequent intervals 
(A), the shelves may be adjusted at varying dis- 
tances apart to accommodate books of any size. 

When shelves are protected by doors they be- 
come cupboards and if constructed with doors 
they must be more accurately and more carefully 
made than plain open shelves. Unless all joints 
are carefully made and all parts squared up true, 
doors will catch and bind or will sag and appear 
slovenly. Care is also necessary in fitting hinges 
and locks. There are a great many kinds of 
hinges in the world and they vary from crude 
pieces of leather nailed on the door to beautifully 
wrought ornamental metal affairs. Hinges may 
be divided into numerous classes some of which 
are made in two detachable parts. These are 
known as " loose butts' ' and are frequently used 
on doors, but for small cupboards, boxes, etc., they 
are not necessary. For cupboards, chests, boxes 



104 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

and other household furnishings you may use 
either ornamental hinges which are fastened on the 
outside of the object where they will show well or 
plain metal hinges which are to be fastened on 
the inside of the articles where they are out of 
sight. Fig. 4 shows examples of both of these. 
In setting a hinge you should take care to place it 
so that it opens properly and in the direction in- 
tended by its construction. Thus in Fig. 5 the 
hinge will open but one way, as the ends of the 
leaves AA prevent the hinge from swinging in the 
opposite direction, as shown in B. Another style 
of small hinge is shown in Fig. 6 A. In this case, 
if the hinge is placed as illustrated, it will lie per- 
fectly flat when the lid or door is closed whereas 
if placed wrongside up as in Fig. 6 B, the lid can- 
not close tightly and the hinge will be bent or in- 
jured. Where the lid of a large box or trunk is 
hinged some arrangement should be made to pre- 
vent the lid from swinging too far back and thus 
injuring the hinge or splitting off the wood. 
Light, metal pivoted pieces may be bought ready- 
made for this purpose, but strips of strong can- 
vas or thin leather straps fastened neatly to the 
cover and the interior of the box will do just as 
well (Fig. 7). Unless hinges are set perfectly 



CARPENTRY ABOUT THE HOUSE 105 

parallel and true the door or lid will not open and 
shut properly and a little care in this matter will 
save a great deal of future trouble and annoyance. 
Where hinges of the type illustrated in Fig. 8 
are used, they should be set in flush with the 
wooden surface as in Fig. 8 A, for otherwise the 
door or lid when closed will have an opening be- 
tween itself and the box or closet and the whole 







job will appear slovenly and improperly made. 
Do not use hinges that are too light or too small 
and if the material is too thin or delicate to permit 
the use of good strong hinges, use several small 
ones. 

In placing locks or fasteners on box covers, lids 
of chests or cupboard doors try to make the job 
as neat and workmanlike as possible. Ugly, 
rough locks screwed on the outside of an other- 



106 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

wise neat and attractive object are eyesores. 
Wherever possible nse a concealed lock and set it 
into the wood by mortising, and if this cannot be 
done nse a lock which is attached to the inside of 
the chest or closet out of sight. Aim to have locks, 
hinges and handles in harmony. A chest or cup- 
board with ornamental brass hinges should have 
lock and handles of the same general style. Some- 
times a very plain box or cupboard may be made 
quite artistic and attractive by using fancy metal 
work and as a rule this ornamental hardware is 
easier to attach than the kind which is mortised or 
let into the wood and is concealed. If you keep 
your eyes open and look carefully at various ar- 
ticles of furniture, closets, cupboards, chests, etc., 
you will soon see how professionals handle these 
little items and will obtain many useful and val- 
uable hints in this way. It is the same with other 
branches of carpentry; notice how others have 
accomplished results and try to pattern your work 
after them. 

In every household, furniture is constantly 
being injured and broken and while furniture re- 
pairing is an art in itself and to mend furniture of 
the higher grades calls for the services of an ex- 
pert, yet there are many occasions when one 



CARPENTEY ABOUT THE HOUSE 107 

handy with carpenter's tools can mend broken 
chairs, tables, beds, etc., and save the expense of 
sending them out to a professional. 

A great deal about furniture repairing may 
best be learned by a careful study of the furniture 
itself, and in a great many cases you will have 
to depend largely upon your own ingenuity and 
inventiveness in order to make strong and durable 
repairs that will be neat and practically invisible. 
As a rule do not attempt upholstery work ; this is 
a special trade and can be better intrusted to the 
hands of some one who makes a specialty of it. 
In a great many instances, however, the uphol- 
stery must be wholly or partially removed in 
order to make repairs and when this is necessary 
the best method to follow is to note carefully 
how the upholstery was put on in the first place 
and replace it in the same way. For the present, 
however, we may confine ouselves to that class of 
repairing which depends wholly upon carpentry 
work, for this is what will interest the amateur 
carpenter and afford an opportunity for him to 
exhibit his skill and ingenuity. 

Perhaps the most important item in successfully 
repairing furniture is to have good, strong, well- 
prepared glue. In mending furniture the great- 



108 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

est dependence is placed on glued joints, which 
may be further reinforced by dowels, screws, etc., 
but nails should be used as little as possible. 
Many fractures of furniture are jagged, irregu- 
lar and with small pieces broken off. If all these 
pieces are saved the fracture can usually be re- 
paired so as to be almost invisible and very strong, 
but even when these are missing a good job can 
usually be done. All holes, cracks, uneven places 
and cavities left by missing chips may be filled 
with cement prepared by melting beeswax (cut 
into flakes) with crushed resin and adding dry 
pigment to match the wood. Use umber for wal- 
nut, Venetian red for mahogany, yellow ochre for 
birch, etc., and lampblack for ebony. The cement 
is dropped into the cavities when melted and is 
smoothed off when hard. If it is too brittle use 
more wax and if too soft more resin and only just 
enough colour to obtain the proper shade. You will 
also require one or two wooden carpenter's clamps 
(Fig. 9), and a few small iron clamps (Fig. 10). 
One of the commonest injuries to household 
furniture is a broken rocker to a rocking-chair. 
In a great many cases it is cheaper to buy a new 
chair or a new rocker than to repair the old one, 
but it is good practice and a broken rocker can 



CARPENTRY ABOUT THE HOUSE 109 

be repaired so as to be as strong as new. The 
method to be followed is shown in Fig. 11. As the 
rocker is broken where the leg enters it, it is im- 
possible to obtain a good strong joint at that spot, 
so the rocker is removed from the chair, the two 
pieces fitted together closely and the whole placed 
side down upon a piece of paper or cardboard. 



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Fig. 9 



Fiq. 10 



An outline of the rocker is then traced on the 
card and the rocker is cut off at an angle in front 
of the broken spot (Fig. 11 A). The end is then 
cut into the form shown in Fig. 11 B, and a new 
piece is cut from hard wood using the cardboard 
pattern as a guide to replace the portion cut away 
as well as the broken end. This new piece is 
joined to the forward half with the halved- joint 
shown in Fig. 11 C, and is firmly glued and still 
further strengthened by a screw driven from the 
inner side and countersunk into the wood, the 
space over the head being filled with cement. 



110 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

Oftentimes a chair may be unbroken and yet be 
so loose and rickety in all its joints that it is unfit 
for use. The only thing to do in such cases is to 
take the chair apart, clean off all old glue and 
re-glue all the joints. Where the joints are very 
loose they may be secured by fine finishing-nails 
driven through them, first making holes with a 
drill or brad-awl, while loose joints in uprights 
where they enter the seat may be expanded by 
driving small wedges into the lower sides as shown 
in Fig. 12. 

Very often one or more of the posts or up- 
rights of a chair become broken off in the holes in 
which they are fitted. This is a simple break to 
repair, although one often sees such fractures 
nailed or glued together in a most slovenly and 
slipshod manner. To repair such a break prop- 
erly, first remove all particles of old glue and 
wood from the hole and saw off the broken end 
of the upright evenly. In the centre of the up- 
right bore a straight hole for about an inch in 
depth and as nearly the same diameter as the 
end of the upright as possible (Fig. 13). Into 
this hole fit a round peg with the projecting end 
the diameter of the hole in the back of the chair 
and glue it firmly in both the upright and the back. 



CARPENTRY ABOUT THE HOUSE 111 

Still another common break in chairs is when a 
piece splits out of the seat where the uprights 
enter (Fig. 14). To repair such a break first 
trim the break smooth and even and secure the 
upright in the hole by means of glue and a screw 



Fio,l8 




as in Fig. 15, and then fit two pieces of wood 
into the space around it as shown in Fig. 16. 
These pieces should be glued in position and re- 
inforced by fine finishing nails run through both 
pieces and into the seat of the chair beyond. 
When thoroughly dry the ends and edges should 
be smoothed off and finished. 



112 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

Parlour chairs with light carved or ornamental 
backs quite frequently break where the dowels 
of the sides enter the rail at the top. To repair 
such a break (Fig. 17), remove all pieces of the 
old dowel and glue and bore a hole in the top of 
the upright. Into this fit a wooden dowel-pin, 
being careful to have it project far enough to 
reach clear through the loose piece and well into 
the solid back above (Fig. 18), and deepen the 
hole in the back sufficiently to accommodate the 
new dowel. Drill a small hole through the loose 
piece and screw it to the back as in Fig. 19, and 
also glue the pieces together. Place glue in the 
dowel-holes and drive or press the parts into 
place (Fig. 20). In order to hold the joints tightly 
together while drying, cramp the back to the up- 
rights by strong string or light rope twisted taut 
with bits of stick and with pads of paper or cloth 
beneath the ropes to prevent scarring the varnish 
as shown in Fig. 21. 

Chairs, tables or other furniture with round or 
turned legs or uprights often break in one or 
more places in the centre of these pieces as in 
Fig. 22. Such a break is very easy to repair as 
it is only necessary to dowel the joints together, 
but it is a very difficult, in fact almost impossible, 



CARPENTRY ABOUT THE HOUSE 113 

job to dowel an uneven broken joint, and hence 
the first step is to cut off the broken post near 
the fracture as shown in Fig. 22 A A. The broken 
pieces are then glued together with hot, strong, 
but rather thin glue and are brought into close 
contact by tapping with a mallet or hammer. 
They are then set aside to dry. A hole is then 
bored into both ends of the sawed cuts, taking care 
to exactly centre the drill or bit. While the hole 
bored into the whole end of the post may be but 
an inch or so in depth, the hole in the broken 
piece should extend well beyond the glued frac- 
ture (Fig. 22 B). Dowels of birch or other hard 
wood should then be fitted in the holes glued in 
place and driven in tight. In using dowels you 
should always cut a small groove along them in 
order to allow the air and surplus glue in the 
holes to escape. If this is not done it will be 
very difficult to bring the dowels and joints close 
together and if too much force is used the com- 
pressed air and glue will frequently split the 
wood. Even if this does not occur it may force 
the joints apart after you have set them aside to 
harden. 

Chairs with loose, wobbly seat-frames may be 
strengthened by placing corner-braces of hard 



114 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 



wood in each corner of the frame and gluing and 
screwing them firmly into place. 

Sometimes a chair, table or other piece of fur- 
niture will be very troublesome on account of the 
legs being uneven. To level up chair legs or legs 





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Fig. 22 



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of furniture which rest directly on the floor, secure 
four small blocks of wood of exactly the same 
thickness and place these upon a level smooth 
surface. Set the chair upon three of these and 
with the fourth as a gauge mark around the edge 
of the long leg as shown in Fig. 23, and saw off 
the amount indicated. Where one leg is too short 
instead of too long a small piece of wood may be 



CARPENTRY ABOUT THE HOUSE 115 

glued and nailed to the leg or the other legs 
may be trimmed off to correspond with the short 
one. Where castors are used you can level the 
legs in a different way. If the castors are merely 
screwed to the bottom of the legs with a plate, the 
one on the long leg may be removed, the leg cut 
off and the castor replaced; but if the castors are 
set into holes or sockets in the legs the hole must 
be deepened to shorten a leg or a bit of wood 
must be slipped in to make the castor project 
slightly further from the end of the leg when it is 
too short. 

There is scarcely anything more annoying than 
drawers and doors that stick and bind and as 
such things are easily remedied there is no ex- 
cuse for being troubled with them. Very often 
the reason that a drawer sticks is because the 
slides or runners or the back of the chest or 
bureau have warped or shrunk. When this is the 
case planing or cutting the drawer itself will do 
little good. If a drawer sticks badly, first roughen 
all the edges slightly with sandpaper or a file and 
then run the drawer in and out a few times and 
look it over for shiny spots and where these are 
seen plane or scrape off slightly. Avoid taking 
off any of the front edges as long as possible or 



116 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

the drawer will be too small and will fit loosely. 
If planing and smoothing here and there does not 
remedy the matter, remove the drawer entirely and 
set it upon a level surface. If all four corners do 
not touch the surface the drawer is out of true or 
" winds," and you will be obliged to bring it back 
into shape, which is often a difficult job. If the 
higher parts are planed down sufficiently to bring 
it into shape the drawer will be too small, but if 
it is out of parallel or crooked from front to back 
or the sides bulge, a few light blows with a ham- 
mer may rectify the trouble. Sometimes the cor- 
ner joints will be found out of true or loose and 
this should be remedied by either taking the 
drawer apart and re-gluing it or perfectly square 
cleats may be screwed and glued in each corner 
to bring the angles back into true. 

If the drawer, after truing up, still sticks you 
should examine the runners (the wooden pieces 
against which the drawer slides), and see if they 
are parallel. They should be slightly wider apart 
at the back than the front and this may be de- 
termined by cutting a strip of wood the exact 
length of the opening of the front and sliding it 
back. If it binds as you push it along, or if it 
even touches at the rear end, the runners must 



CAKPENTRY ABOUT THE HOUSE 117 

be reduced at the rear. Oftentimes a runner may 
be loose or entirely missing or a nail-head may 
protrude and bind somewhere. Sometimes the 
sides of the article itself may be warped or bulged, 
and when this occurs it must be remedied by cut- 
ting or planing the runners or springing or plan- 
ing the sides until the runners are straight. Some- 
times one runner will be higher than the other or 
one end may be further up or down than the other. 
This can be determined by sighting along them, 
but this requires practice, and an easier way is to 
test them with a level and square. When you 
have all the parts smoothed and adjusted until 
the drawer slides out and in with a little friction, 
rub the edges and the runners with spermaceti 
wax and a linen rag. If the wax crumbles warm 
it slightly before using. Common laundry or 
toilet soap will serve in place of the spermaceti, 
but is not so good. 

Sometimes a drawer may be so jammed or stuck 
that you cannot pull it out without danger of 
breaking the handles or the front of the drawer. 
In such cases do not use chisels, screw-drivers or 
other tools to pry on it, but remove the back of 
the case or chest and while some one pulls on 
the handles tap the ends of the back of the drawer 



118 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

with a hammer or mallet, taking care to strike the 
end furthest in first. If the drawer still refuses 
to budge remove the partition between the 
drawers by sliding it out and if necessary re- 
move the runners or loosen them by prying them 
slightly from the sides of the case. 



CHAPTER IX 
MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 

If you have ever had occasion to move a stove 
or a heavy trunk or box about, you know what 
a hard job it is, especially if you have no one to 
help you. If you have a truck to use you will 
find that it is an easy matter to move the largest 
stove or heaviest trunk or chest with ease, and 
as such a truck is a very easy thing to make, 
there is no reason why every household should 
not be provided with one or more of the handy 
utensils. 

The material required is 2 x 4 scantling 36 in. 
long and some 1-in. boards — about 4 ft. — of 4-in. 
wide stuff. In addition you will require a good 
strong pivot-castor and two 3-in. iron wheels as 
well as a piece of iron rod or pipe for an axle. 

Mark off 18 in. on the scantling and draw a 
diagonal line from one corner to the other as 
shown in Fig. 1 and saw along the line, thus ob- 
taining two pieces 2 in. thick and 4 in. wide at 
one end and tapering down to a sharp point at 
the other. On one of these mark off 3 in. on 

119 



120 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

the wide end and draw a line parallel with the 
straight edge (Fig. 2), and saw along this line. 
Repeat the operation with the other piece. 

Place these two pieces side by side, with the 
upper edges even (Fig. 3), and clamp them firmly 
in a vise. Then with a J-in. drill or auger bore 
a hole through both pieces, making the hole just 
over the corner A, and starting the centre of the 




auger 2 in. from the straight upper edge and 
being careful to drill the hole straight so that 
it comes out in exactly the same position on the 
further side of the second piece. 

Now place the piece of plain 2-inx4-in. stuff 
between the two pieces with the ends even and 
with the straight upper edges flat on the bench 
and the plain piece edge on between the other 
pieces as shown in Fig. 4, and with a pencil 
mark at each edge where the holes are and 
draw a line across the plain piece. Saw J in. 



MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 121 

into the timber on these lines and split out the 
wood between the lines to leave a ^-in. deep 
groove across the 4-in. side of the plain piece. 
Place the two angular pieces with the outer 
edges 18 in. apart and to them firmly screw or 
nail pieces of the 1-in. board as shown in Fig. 5. 
In the centre, with each edge 5 J in. from the 
inner edges of the side pieces, fasten the 2-in. x 
4-in. piece with the groove down. Now drive 
the f-in. piece of iron rod through the holes in 
the side pieces and leave enough projecting at 
each end to allow the wheels to slip over and 
allow a space for a washer and pin on the outer 
ends (Fig. 6). The holes for the pins may be 
drilled with a twist-drill in your breast-drill or 
any blacksmith will do the job for a few cents. 
The axle and rollers may be bought at any dealer 
in builders' hardware or may be picked up at 
some junk shop for a few cents. If you cannot 
get iron rollers you can use wheels of hard wood 
or even wooden sheaves from old pulley-blocks. 
Slip a washer over the axle, then slip on a wheel, 
place another washer over this and slip a pin (a 
cotter-pin is the best) through the hole as in 
Fig. 6. Then fasten the axle securely to the 
centre piece with staples, A. Now set the truck 



122 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

on a level surface resting on the wheels and 
place blocks or bits of wood under the slanting 
ends until the top is level and measure the dis- 
tance from A to B on the centre piece (Fig. 7), 




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Fig. 8 




and fasten the castor to this centre piece so it does 
not quite touch the floor (Fig. 8). The truck is 
now complete, and to use it you merely tip it down 
to the position shown in Fig. 9; tip up the box, 
trunk or stove, slip the truck under it, push for- 
ward, and the truck tips back to a level position 
and rolls readily. 

Another useful and simple thing which the 
amateur carpenter can make for the house is a 
window ventilator. 

To make the ventilator cut a piece of board — 



MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 123 

pine or whitewood if desired, or if the window 
casing is finished in natural wood select the same 
kind of material — and fit it accurately to the 
width of the window. The board should be about 
10 in. wide and the edges must be planed off to 
fit neatly against the sash and the sill, which 
slant. At equal distances from the centre cut 
rectangular holes, each 6 in. long by 3 in. wide, 
as shown in Fig. 10. Over each of these tack 
pieces of tin or sheet brass in the shape shown 
in Fig. 11, which will allow plenty of fresh air 
to enter the room but will prevent a direct 
draught. A better and neater job may be made 
by fastening cleats at the ends of the rectangular 
holes as shown in Fig. 12, and fastening the 
sheet metal over these, in the form shown in 
Fig. 13. By this method the air enters from the 
lower side and all danger of rain or snow finding 
its way in is obviated. By covering the lower 
opening, or the end openings, with wire netting 
insects or mice will be kept out, or the metal may 
be bent in either of the forms shown in Fig. 14 
and the ends or bottom perforated, as illustrated. 
Ash-sifters are used in a great many places, 
and while tin ash-sifters or galvanized iron af- 
fairs are fairly cheap and are in general use, 



124 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 



yet it is fun to make one yourself, and a home- 
made wooden sifter will do just as good work 
as a bought affair. Even if you do not want an 
ash-sifter you can make the arrangement de- 




Fio. 10 







£ 



JDES^ 



Fio. 11 




§ 



scribed for use in sifting earth for your flower 
garden or potted plants. 

Saw six 21-in. lengths from 6-in. x 1-in. boards 
and place three of them edge to edge, and across 
them screw cleats 1 in. x 1 in., placing one cleat 
6 in. from one end and the other 10 in. from the 
other end. Repeat the operation with the other 
three boards (Fig. 15). Now measure off from 
one side of one of these cleated pieces and find 
the exact centre, which should be 9 in. from 
either edge, and with a pair of compasses or a 



MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 125 

string on a nail draw a half-circle, the centre 
being 9 in. from the end where the cleat is 10 in. 
from the end. This half-circle should just touch 
the lower end of the boards and the two edges 
as shown in Fig. 15. Repeat the operation with 
the other piece of cleated boards and with your 
compass-saw saw off around the marks made and 
trim even and smooth with a block-plane. You 
will now have two pieces each 18 in. wide and 
with one end of each cut in the form of a half- 
circle. Using these for ends, connect them by 
boards 20 in. long, making an open frame as 
shown in Fig. 16, with the cleats inside. On the 
side pieces fasten cleats exactly even with those 
on the ends that are 6 in. from the top. Make 
a neat wooden frame that will just fit snugly in- 
side of the box-like affair, having the frame 6 in. 
wide (Fig. 17), and cover the bottom of this with 
wire netting. Bore two 1-in. holes in each end, 
as shown in the cut. Next fit a good strong 
cover to the whole and your sifter is complete. 
For use with earth for your garden this sifter 
will prove very handy, for it can be filled with 
earth, set down where desired and the earth 
sifted onto the beds or into boxes or pots as you 
wish to use it. 



126 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

Another form of sifter may be made by fixing 
a box in a permanent frame and pivoting the 
sifter inside, but this form is harder to make 
and has no particular advantages over the other 
form described. 

Although few amateur carpenters are able to 
make really fine furniture, yet there are a great 











.- ... C' 


« 


< /e~ ..., 


*-J'- ■■> 














Fig. 17 



many home furnishings and simple pieces of fur- 
niture which are easily made and will add greatly 
to the comfort and appearance of either a boy's 
own room or the home. You should aim to make 
the simplest things first, and as you become more 
and more familiar with the use of tools, the plan- 
ning and designing of work, the methods of han- 
dling and working wood and the various styles 
of finishing, you will be able to undertake more 
and more intricate and difficult pieces. 

One of the simplest things to make is a shoe- 



MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 127 

brush holder and shoe-polishing bench, and, more- 
over, this is a most useful piece of furniture for 
any one's room. If you do not require a shoe- 
brush holder, the same design may be followed 
and the piece of furniture may be used to hold 
shoes, magazines, odds and ends, or in fact any 
articles that you desire to keep handy and out 
of sight. Select two pieces of wood 12 in. wide 
and 24 in. long and 1 in. thick, and if you cannot 
obtain pieces of this width cleat 6-in. pieces to- 
gether. Four inches from one end of one of 
these pieces draw a light line from side to side. 
Draw another across 10 in. from the first and 
draw still another 2 in. from this. In the centre 
of the first line make a plain mark and a similar 
mark in the centre of the last line. On the first 
line, using the mark as a centre, draw a half- 
circle of 4-in. radius and on the last line draw 
a 4-in. circle. Measure off 2 in. from either 
corner of the board nearest this small circle and 
from these marks draw lines meeting exactly in 
the circle at the upper edge of the circle. From 
the extreme ends of the large half-circle draw 
straight lines at right angles to the cross-lines 
on the board to the second cross-line and thence 
to the outer corners, and the board will now ap- 



128 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

pear marked as in Fig. 18. With your saws and 
compass-saw saw off all along these marks and in 
this way secure a board shaped as in Fig. 19. 
Repeat the operation with the other 12-in. x 24-in. 
board, and be sure that both are exactly alike. 
Now get out three boards each 10 in. wide by 
24 in. long and one 24 in. x 8 in. and square the 




ends and plane the ends and edges smooth and 
true. Fasten the 8-in. board to the end pieces 
by screws, placing the board with its lower edge 
on the line B (Fig. 18), and with a space of 1 in. 
on either side. To this board and the end pieces 
fasten the 10-in. boards, one on either side, thus 
forming an open box, and to one of these side 
boards hinge the third 10-in. board. See that 
the screws are all well countersunk and putty up 
the holes and finish the whole with stain and 
varnish or paint to suit your own taste. If the 



MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 129 

affair is to be used as a shoe-polishing bench the 
top may be left as a plain board, but if you wish 
to use it as a seat it may be fitted with a cushion 
or may be upholstered in leather (Fig. 20). 
A variation in this little piece of furniture may 
be made by fastening the top securely and hing- 
ing the front, or the back may be carried up 
beyond the rest of the bench, the ends cut in the 
form shown in Fig. 21 and either the top or 
front hinged, thus forming a neat and comforta- 
ble bench with a receptacle under the seat. 

Book shelves and racks are always useful and 
are among the easiest of furnishings to construct. 
For constructing the shelf described you will re- 
quire ^-in. material and you should use a wood 
which will appear well when finished with oil and 
varnish or which may be stained to imitate some 
fancy wood: oak, cherry, walnut, maple or other 
hard woods or white wood are excellent. 

The material should all be \ in. thick and care 
should be used not to split or chip the wood. 
The principal piece is the base, A (Fig. 22), which 
should be 7 in. wide and as long as you wish the 
shelf, say 24 in. Plane ends and edges smooth 
and half-round and at 2\ in. from each end saw 
a straight line across the board about \ in. deep. 



130 THE AMATEUE CAEPENTEE 

Saw another line on the inner side of each of 
these and ^ in. from them and cut away the wood 
between the lines with a chisel, thus leaving two 
grooves each \ in. deep and \ in. wide as in 
Fig. 22 B B. Next get out the two upright end 
pieces, each 10 in. high and 6| in. wide, and with 
the upper ends neatly rounded or sawed into an 
ornamental form as in Fig. 23. Five inches from 
the square ends of these pieces make grooves 
i in. wide by J in. deep, as described for the base 
piece. Then get out the shelf, which should be 
18^ in. long and should have the edges but not 
the ends rounded and should be 7 in. wide. Sand- 
paper all these pieces until smooth and drill two 
holes through each of the grooves in the bottom 
piece and countersink the holes on the lower side 
opposite the grooves. 

Now get out the pockets for the ends. These 
consist of three pieces for each pocket, two 
pieces 2^ in. x 4 in., with one end cut as shown 
in Fig. 24 A, with the third piece 6 j in. x 3 in., 
as shown in Fig. 24: B. Bore holes from the 
bottom of the base piece close to the edges and 
ends and with glue and small screws fasten the 
pockets together and in position. Then set the 
end pieces in the grooves with glue and screw 



MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 131 

them firmly in place with screws from the bottom, 
and lastly glue the shelf into the grooves in the 
end pieces (Fig. 25). If you intend to stain the 




Fig. 25 



shelf it is a good plan to give all the parts a coat 
before fastening together, as in this way there 
will be no danger of omitting some portions or 
getting too much stain on others, but the grooves 



132 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

and the ends of the pieces to be set in them 
should not be stained, as the glue will adhere 
better to the plain natural wood. 

Another very simple and useful piece of furni- 
ture is an umbrella-holder. The design given is 
quite attractive and is easy to work out, but it 
may be varied to suit your own ideas and the 
same dimensions adhered to. For the sides you 
will require four pieces of f-in. or J-in. board 
25 in. long and 10 in. wide. Find the centre of 
one end of each board and measure off 3^ in. on 
each side and from these marks draw straight 
lines to the outer corners at the other ends. Saw 
along these lines and thus obtain four pieces 25 
in. long, 10 in. wide at one end and 7 in. wide at 
the other, as shown in Fig. 26. With your bits 
and compass-saw cut out the design illustrated 
or some similar pattern in each piece. Then 
plane off the edges of each piece to a 45-degree 
angle so that two pieces, when held together edge 
to edge, will form a right angle. Work slowly 
and carefully and when the pieces fit closely 
and true up with your square ta<?k them together 
with fine wire nails. Then bore through the 
edges and countersink the holes for screws and 
fasten with brass screws sunk well below the sur- 



MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 133 

face of the wood. If preferred the holes may be 
left without countersinking and round-headed 
brass or blue-finished screws may be used. At 
the bottom of the stand fasten a tin, zinc or 








US 



brass tray (Fig. 27 A) which may be made by 
any tinsmith or which you can make yourself. 
Have the tray fit snugly inside of the stand and 
secure it in position by placing the piece Fig. 
27 B under it and fasten this piece with round- 



134 THE AMATEUE CAEPENTER 

headed screws through the sides, two on each 
side. It is unwise to fasten the tray to the wood, 
for it may become punctured or leaky, then by 
merely removing the wooden bottom the tray 
may be renewed or repaired. If placed in the 
stand without the wood beneath it, it will soon 
be battered and filled with holes from umbrellas 
dropped into the stand. Finish the stand with 
stain, varnish, wax or any finish desired, taking 
care to putty up all nail and screw holes before 
finishing and remember when using putty for 
such purposes to colour the putty to match the 
finished wood. 

Every boy loves a cosy-corner or a window- 
seat and such things are among the easiest of 
furnishings to construct. 

In making a corner-seat, such as figured here- 
with, first fasten a good strong cleat of 2-in. x 
2-in. stuff to the wall 16 in. from the floor. Be 
sure to get this level and run it along the entire 
length of the seats. Make the seats at least 
18 in. wide, cleating two or more boards together 
with cross-pieces screwed in position, but be care- 
ful to leave 2 in. of the seat-board beyond the 
cleats so it can rest upon the wall cleats. 

Get out several pieces of wood 2 in. square 



MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 135 

for legs, making the pieces 16 in. long and fasten- 
ing small triangular pieces or braces at one end 
of each leg as shown in Fig. 28. The number of 
legs you require will depend upon the size of 
the seat. There should be one at each end and 
one in the centre, and if they are spaced 3 ft. 
apart it will not be too close. If your seat is to 
be finished with a flounce and the legs are hidden 
these square pieces will serve every purpose, but 
if the seats are to be merely upholstered with 
cushions and the legs are visible they should be 
made somewhat ornamental. This may be done 
by using round, turned legs or they may be 
"chamfered" as shown in Fig. 29, or sawed into 
an ornamental shape as shown in Fig. 30. When 
the legs are done screw them firmly to the 
boards, set the boards on the wall-cleat and fasten 
them with stout screws. If the seat is in a corner 
a neat corner-cabinet or set of shelves may be 
constructed to hold books, magazines, etc. To 
make such a set of shelves get out four pieces 
as long as you wish the height of the shelves and 
in one corner of each cut grooves or slots as 
shown in Fig. 31, about 1 ft. apart. Screw one 
of the pieces in the corner of the room with the 
slot outward and screw two more to the walls in 



136 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 



the position shown in Fig. 32 and each the same 
distance from the first corner-piece as the length 
of the edge of the shelves from A to B. Set the 
shelves in these, glning them in place and fasten 





(v 



Fio. 29 




Fro. 31 




Fia.30 




Fio, 32 



Fig. 33 



the fourth piece at the outer corners as shown 
in Fig. 32 C. The top may be finished off by 
fastening a slightly larger piece with rounded 
edges on top of the uprights and a small neat 
rail may be placed around this or an ornamental 
moulding may be fastened around the edges as 
shown in Fig. 33. 



MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 137 

Even without a seat such a corner-shelf is 
ornamental and useful, and it may be constructed 
with the lower part in the form of a cupboard 
or it may be entirely separated from the floor 
and placed at any desired height. A window- 
seat such as described may be still further im- 




proved by fitting back-rests at one or both ends. 
To do this get out smooth, well-finished pieces 
18 in. long by 18 in. wide and with two of the 
corners neatly rounded. If obliged to cleat two 
or more pieces together, — as will probably be the 
case, — place one cleat close to the bottom or 
square end and the other close to the other end 



138 THE AMATEUR CAEPENTEE 

and make the latter smooth and well finished with 
ronnded corners and ends. Fasten a piece to the 
end of the seat so that it projects four inches 
above the seat and round off the edges and cor- 
ners as shown in Fig. 34 A. Eest the backboard 
against this and when you have decided on the 
angle that seems best suited to your comfort 
mark across the seat where the lower edge of the 
backboard rests upon it. Fasten two or more 
hinges to the backboard and screw the other leaves 
of the hinges to the seat at the line marked. In 
this way the backboard may be folded flat on the 
seat and the cushions placed over it or it may be 
opened up and used as a back rest when desired 
(Fig. 34 B). . 

When you have succeeded with the various sim- 
ple pieces of furniture already described you will 
probably wish to try your skill on something more 
elaborate. A good article is a stand or table, and 
to make a plain table is not at all difficult. In this 
stand 1-in. stuff is used throughout, and as all 
lines are straight a great deal of trouble and work 
is obviated. 

For the top you will have to cleat two pieces 
together, for the top will be 12 in. square and you 
will have difficulty in finding a good smooth- 



MAKING SIMPLE FUBNITURE 139 



grained piece of wood of that width. Plane the 
two edges for the top — where the boards join — 
until smooth and even, and glue them firmly to- 
gether. Then on one side fasten thin, neat cleats 



0' 




rr==\ 



I 



about \ in. thick with screws, taking care to use 
screws that are not long enough to penetrate 
through the top. When the glue is thoroughly dry 
plane and smooth off the ends and sides until 
well rounded. For the legs you will require four 
pieces each 30 in. long and 4 in. wide at one end 
and 3 in. wide at the other (Fig. 35^). When 



140 THE AMATEUE CARPENTER 

the legs are roughly sawed out clamp them to- 
gether in the vise and plane all together until they 
are all absolutely alike. Next get out four pieces 
each 20 in. long and 3 in. wide and tapering to a 
point at one end as shown in Fig. 35 B, and plane 
these so all are alike while clamped together in 
the vise. The next pieces to get out are the cross- 
pieces to support the shelf. These are each 3 in. 
wide and 23 in. long and should be half-and-half 
joined in the centre (Fig. 35 C). Eight inches 
from the bottom (4 in. end) of each leg-piece cut 
a recess 3 in. wide and \ in. deep (Fig. 36). On 
the lower side of the top draw lines from corner 
to corner and on each of these lines, 3^ in. from 
the corners, mark off spaces 3 in. long and \ in. 
wide with the lines as centres, and with the chisel 
carefully cut out recesses \ in. deep as shown in 
Fig. 37. The bottom shelf is the next piece in 
order. This should be 18 in. square and on one 
side draw lines from corner to corner. With 
these lines as a guide mark lines at right angles 
to them (using your square for the purpose) and 
moving the square back and forth until the lines 
across the corners measure just 3 in. When this 
is determined draw the lines and saw off the cor- 
ners as shown in Fig. 38. Next smooth and round 



MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 141 

off all corners and edges on this piece, as well as 
the corner edges of the legs and the edges on the 
slanting side of the triangular pieces already de- 
scribed. Set the cross-piece, made by halving the 
two 3-in. x 3-in. pieces together, in the recesses in 
the lower part of the legs and place the top in 
position so the upper (3-in.) ends of the legs fit 
in the recesses made in the lower side of the top. 
If the top sets level and all parts fit well the next 
step will be to trim off a little on the inner 
sides of the legs so that they stand evenly on the 
floor. 

To do this you will have to cut off a little piece 
of each leg, and the way to determine the amount 
is to place a piece of ^-in. wood on the floor close 
to the leg until the desired result is obtained. 
When this is accomplished glue the cross-pieces 
in their recesses and glue the tops of the legs into 
the places in the top and through each leg, from 
the outside, drive a screw into the ends of the 
cross-pieces. The screws may be countersunk and 
puttied over or round-headed screws may be used, 
as your fancy dictates. Set the table aside until 
the glue is thoroughly dry, and then turn it upside 
down on a flat surface. Take one of the tri- 
angular pieces and place it on the outside of a leg 



142 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

with the straight edge against the leg and the 
wide end against the lower side of the top. 

You will find that if the straight edge is pressed 
evenly against the leg there will be a little open 
space between the inner edge of the end and 
the table top. Place a thin piece of wood or a 
rule along the lower side of the top and against 
the triangular piece and with a pencil draw a line 
parallel with the top. Saw carefully along this 
line, and if you have done the work properly you 
will now find that the end of the piece fits snugly 
against the top with the straight edge against the 
leg. Repeat this operation with the other three 
triangular pieces and then measure off from each 
side of each leg at the top and also at a point a 
foot lower down, and mark the exact centre of 
each leg from side to side. Measure J in. from 
these centres on each side and draw a line from 
one centre mark along the legs to the other cen- 
tre. Along this line drill two or three holes and 
countersink the openings on the opposite sides or 
inside of the legs. Coat the straight edge of a 
triangular piece with glue, and also the end, and 
place it against a leg, using the two little marks 
J in. from the centre as guides and drive screws 
into it from the inside of the legs. With a fine 



MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 143 

drill or bit bore a hole in each triangular piece 
and drive a slender, long screw through each of 
these into the lower side of the top. Bore a hole 
through each of the lower cross-braces, about 6 
in. from the centre, and countersink the lower 
openings. Turn the table right side up, place the 
shelf on the cross-pieces and centre it so that the 





corners are equidistant from all the legs and 
make light marks to indicate the position. Then 
fasten the shelf by screws driven up through the 
under side of the cross-braces and your table is 
complete, save for finishing with stain, varnish 
or wax as you prefer (Fig. 39). 

Having constructed this stand to your satisfac- 
tion you can turn your attention to something 
more difficult and elaborate. The table described 
in the following paragraphs may be made of any 
size by altering the various measurements, but 



144 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

the size given is very good. For this table you 
will require some lj-in. square stuff for the legs 
and bottom pieces as well as the regular 1-in. 
stuff for tops, rails, etc. In making this table 
there are several mortised or tenon joints which 
will afford excellent practice at this sort of work. 

The top is 48 in. long by 24 in. wide and must 
of course be built up from several pieces glued 
neatly together and well cleated on one side, but 
in fastening on the cleats be sure to keep their 
ends at least 6 in. from the edges of the table top 
and do not place any of them nearer than 6 in. 
from the ends. 

The legs should be 24 in. long and each corner 
of each should be chamfered for a space of 20 in., 
beginning the chamfers 2 in. from one end and car- 
rying them to within 2 in. of the other (Fig. 4(L1). 
At one end of each leg cut away for a space of 
^ in. on two sides and J in. on the other two sides 
for a depth of \ in., thus leaving a tongue or tenon 
\ in. by 1 in. and \ in. long (Fig. 40 5). From 
the 1-in. material get out two pieces each 39 in. 
long and 8 in. wide and shaped as in Fig. 41a, and 
two other pieces each 15 in. long and 8 in. wide 
formed as in Fig. 41&. On each end of each of 
these pieces cut away a space at top and bottom 



MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 145 

i in. deep and 1 in. wide. On each leg, on two 
sides and at the upper end, cut recesses \ in. deep, 
1 in. wide and 6 in. long, with one end of each re- 
cess just 1 in. from the top of the legs (Fig. 40 C). 
Then from 1^-in. material cut two pieces 26 in. 




long and 3 in. wide shaped as in Fig. 41c. On 
each of the pieces Fig. 41a and Fig. 41b fasten 
pieces 1 in. square and about 10 in. long with 
one edge flush with the straight edge of the pieces 
(Fig. 41d). Screw these cleats in position with 
screws through the cleats and bore other holes at 
right angles to them as illustrated. On the pieces 
Fig. 41c find the centre from end to end and 



146 THE AMATEUE CARPENTEE 

from the centres measure off 1\ in. in each direc- 
tion and from these marks mark off rectangular 
spaces 1 in. long and \ in. wide as indicated in 
Fig. 41e, and with a chisel cut these out \ in. deep. 



H~- --^—-?f---~<£=7^ 





-> ».. 



Fig. 41e 




Coat all the tenons and recesses with glue and set 
the frame up as shown in Fig. 42, and set aside 
until thoroughly dry. When hard turn the frame 
bottom up, resting the upper edge on the lower 
side of the top, and when it is centred so that the 
space around the frame on the top is equal on all 



MAKING SIMPLE FURNITURE 147 

sides fasten the frame to the top with screws 
through the cleats fastened already to the side 
and end pieces, also placing glue between the 
edges of the side, the top of the legs and the lower 
sides of the cleats before driving the screws. 
Then through the lower side of the pieces at the 
bottom of the legs drive long screws up into the 
legs and your table will be complete save finish- 
ing, or if you desire, castors may be placed on 
the lower ends of the legs. 



CHAPTER X 
FITTING UP A GYMNASIUM 

Neajrly every boy enjoys a gymnasium and the 
boy carpenter can easily fit np some garret room 
or loft to make a very satisfactory gymnasium 
at little expense. Many of the expensive fittings 
for a gymnasium can be made at home very 
cheaply by boys handy with tools, and the follow- 
ing descriptions will tell you how to construct 
some of these things. 

Vaulting horses are always great favourites in 
a gym. and are among the simplest and easiest 
articles to construct. The material required will 
be 3-in. x 4-in. timber, some 1-in. boards and some 
2x2 timber, as well as some heavy iron staple- 
bolts 6 in. high and 5 in. between centres of legs 
with the lower ends threaded for nuts as in Pig. 1. 
Any blacksmith can make these two staples of 
J-in. round iron for a few cents each. For the 
legs of the horse you should get out four pieces 
of the 3-in. x 4-in. stock each 43 in. long. Then 
on the floor, or bench, draw a straight line 48 in. 

long and at right angles a few inches from the 

148 



FITTING UP A GYMNASIUM 149 

end of this line draw another line about 40 in. 
long. Measure off 16 in. from the upright line on 
each side of the last line and place two legs so 
that their outer ends just touch these marks and 
the upper ends cross the upright line as shown 
in Fig. 2a with the 4-in. side down. With a rule 
or your square mark across the timbers exactly 
in line with the mark on the floor and do the same 
where the line at the other end crosses them. 
Saw on these lines and the timbers will be shaped 
as in Fig. 2b. Using these for patterns repeat 
the operation with the other two timbers to be 
used as legs and on one end of each piece measure 
1^ in. from the diagonal surface as shown in 
Fig. 2c and draw a line parallel with this edge 
as shown. On this line measure 4 in. from the 
outer edge, as illustrated, and saw out the piece 
A so that the slanting ends of the legs will be 
the shape shown in Fig. 2d. 

Cut another piece of 3-in. x 4-in. timber 5 ft. 
long and measure off 6 in. on each end. Fasten 
the legs to this timber with their outer edges at 
the spaces marked and securing them with screws 
in the position shown in Fig. 2e. Now get out 
two pieces of 3 x 4 timber each 38 in. long and 
place them upon the floor with their 4-in. sides 



150 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

down and their inner edges just 4 ft. apart. Set 
the legs upon these pieces so that there is 3 in. 




between the outer side of each leg and the end 
of the timber and with a pencil mark around each 



FITTING UP A GYMNASIUM 151 

leg. Cut out recesses where these marks indicate 
that the legs rest and fasten the ends of the legs 
in the mortises with stout screws driven through 
them (Fig. 3a). Now cut two pieces of the 
2-in. x 2-in. stuff to fit diagonally across from 
the spot B to C and from D to E and where 
they cross in the centre half and half join them 
(Fig. 3b), and fasten the ends securely to 
the upper timber and the two cross-timbers 
on which the legs rest (Fig. 3b). Next from 
a piece of the 3x4 stuff get out four tri- 
angular pieces 10 in. long on the straight side 
by 3^ in. wide and 3 in. thick. Fasten one of 
these pieces to the outer side of each leg as indi- 
cated at F (Fig. 3c) , using either nails or screws 
in attaching them. Fasten a board 5 ft. long by 
10 in. wide (or two narrower boards edge to 
edge) along these triangular pieces with the 
upper edges of the boards straight and flush with 
the tops of the angular pieces and the top of 
centre timber and nail or screw them firmly in 
position. Now on a piece of 1-in. board 12 in. 
wide and 5 ft. long, or two pieces placed edge to 
edge, mark the centre (2^ ft. from each end) and 
5 in. from either side of this centre mark bore 
two J-in. holes 5 in. apart. If the piece consists 



152 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

of two 6-in. boards let one hole of each pair come 
in each board as shown in Fig. 4a. Screw a nut 
on each end of the staples, slip the ends of the 
iron staples through these holes, place a cleat of 
1-in. board over the projecting ends from side to 
side (Fig. 4&) and screw on the nuts with washers 
above and below the wood as shown in Fig. 4fr. 
Now set the board with the staples in position on 
top of the horse and from the under side mark 
on the centre beam where the cleats rest upon it. 
Cut grooves into the top of the centre beam or 
' ' ridge ' ' to receive these cleats and nail or screw 
the top board firmly to the centre timber and the 
triangular pieces on the legs. Then with a plane 
smooth off and round the outer sharp corners, 
where they join the side 1 boards. 

The next step is to cover the horse with sev- 
eral layers of old carpet and over this stretch 
a piece of strong canvas, tacking the edges under 
the edges of the side boards and upholstering it 
as neatly as possible and taking care that no nail 
or tack heads project to tear clothing or injure 
your hands and body. The horse is now com- 
plete and it may be set up wherever you desire 
by driving screws or bolts through the cross- 
pieces at the bottom of the legs (Fig. 5). 



FITTING UP A GYMNASIUM 



153 



Such a horse will be strong and durable and 
will stand any amount of rough, hard use. It 
may be made much simpler by omitting the centre 
piece and doing away with the diagonal braces 
underneath, but such a horse will swing and sway 
and will last but a short time and may become 
dangerous to use. In making gymnastic appli- 
ances your aim should be to make the things just 




as safe, strong and rigid as possible and only by 
using care and well-designed mortises, braces and 
joints can this be accomplished. 

Every gymnasium must have a jumping hurdle, 
or several of them, and these are very easy af- 
fairs to make. 

The first step is to get out two pieces of 3-in. 
stuff each 4 in. square. In the centre of each 
cut a recess 1^ in. square and 2 in. deep. If 
easier you can cut the pieces from 2-in, material, 



154 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

make the hole clear through and screw a piece of 
1-in. material on one side over the hole. On each 
of the four sides of each of these pieces fasten 
2-in. hinges 1 in. from the bottom as shown in 
Fig. 6, and to these fasten pieces 6 in. long and 4 
in. wide of 1-in. material so that the bottom sides 
of the pieces are flush with the lower side of the 
3-in. piece. Now get out two straight strips 1J 




in. square and 7 ft. long and bore f-in. holes 
through them, spacing the holes 1 in. apart for 
the first three or four feet and ^ in. apart for 
the rest of the distance. In order to have the 
holes in line on both pieces clamp the two strips 
together in a vise with the ends even and bore 
the holes through both pieces at once. It is also 
a good plan to mark each hole on each strip neatly 
with the feet and inches from the ground, as in 
this way you will always know the height at 
which the hurdle is set and can always get the 



FITTING UP A GYMNASIUM 155 

cross-piece level without the bother of measur- 
ing. Set the two strips into the holes cut in the 
blocks with the hinged pieces and make some 
wooden or brass-rod pegs to fit the holes. For 
a cross-strip a light piece of wood or a slender 
bamboo pole will answer very well. When the 
hurdle is to be set up in the gym. it may be se- 
cured by screws through the hinged pieces, 
whereas out of doors pegs or long spikes may 
be pushed into the earth through the holes bored 
for these screws (Fig. 7). When not in use or 
when the hurdle is to be carried from one place 
to another the bottom pieces may be folded up 
out of the way and the uprights slipped out and 
tied together with the cross-piece. 

PARALLEL BARS 

These are useful appurtenances and several 
will not be too many for a gymnasium used by 
more than one or two boys. Parallel bars are 
very simple and easy to construct and only a 
small amount of material is required. 

The wood should be mostly 3x4 material, 
preferably finished or planed, as to plane down 
rough scantling by hand is a slow and tedious 
job. 



156 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

The length and height of the bars will depend 
entirely upon your own size, but for ordinary 
boys' use they should be about 2 ft. apart and 
6 or 7 ft. in length with a height from the floor 
of about 3 ft. 

The first step is to get out the two bars of 
3x4 stuff and on these pieces plane off one edge 
(on the 3-in. side) until half-round. Six inches 
from each end of these cut a recess 4 in. long, 
li in. deep and 2 in. high, as shown in Fig. 8a. 
For the legs or supports you will require four 
pieces of 3x4 timber of the length you have de- 
cided upon for the height of the bars from the 
floor. On one end of each of these pieces cut 
away a space 1^ in. deep on the 4-in. side and 
2 in. from the end as shown in Fig. 8b. Set these 
in the recesses already cut in the bars and see 
that they fit snugly as in Fig. 8c. Next get out 
eight pieces of 2-in. x 3-in. timber each a little 
over 2 ft. long. Saw off one end of each of these 
pieces at an angle of 45 degrees and place them 
aside for the present. Take one of the leg-pieces 
and on the three-inch side mark a spot 2 ft. from 
the lower end and with your angle-square, or 
by placing the leg in the mitre-box, rule a 45- 
degree line across from this mark on the 4-in. 



FITTING UP A GYMNASIUM 157 




158 THE AMATEUE CAEPENTEE 

side. Two inches below this draw a parallel line 
and connect the two by a straight line parallel 
with the edge of the leg and just 1^ in. from the 
edge. With these lines as guides cut out a piece, 
leaving a notch as shown in Fig. 9 on the 3-in. 
side of each leg. Now place the legs in pairs, 
with the unnotched sides together and the upper 
or notched ends down as in Fig. 10. On the 3-in. 
sides, opposite the notches already cut, make 
marks 16 in. from the lower (square) ends of 
the legs (Fig. 10a), and from these run lines at 
an angle of 45 degrees towards the upper ends 
of the legs. Two inches below these draw 
parallel lines and saw along these lines to a 
depth of 1^ in. and chisel away the wood to leave 
a diagonal groove across the legs as in Fig. 10&. 
Now set the angular end of one of the 2x3 
pieces in the first notch cut in a leg (Fig. 11) 
and nail it firmly in position. Place your 
square along the side of the leg and mark 
across the projecting diagonal piece in line 
with the bottom of the leg (Fig. 11) and saw 
off the piece evenly on this line. Place the leg 
upright on the floor with the bottom of the diag- 
onal resting on the floor also and tack both to 
the floor lightly with small nails. With square 



FITTING UP A GYMNASIUM 



159 



and level move the leg slightly back and forth 
until plumb and straight on all sides before se- 
curing it. Select one of the remaining pieces of 
2x3 stuff and placing the lower, angular end 
on the floor in line with the leg and with the 
outer edge just 16 in. from it, slip it into the 
recess already cut in the leg as shown in Fig. 12. 
With a pencil mark plainly where the edges of 




Fio. 13o 



the notch cross this piece (A, B, C, D, E, F) and 
saw along these lines to a depth of 1^ in. on the 
lower mark and clear through the timber on the 
upper one and with a chisel cut away to leave a 
tongue as shown in Fig. 13. Eepeat these opera- 
tions with the other three legs and you will then 
be ready to set up the bars permanently. To do 
this fasten the notched ends of the legs into the 
recesses cut in the bars and then nail the legs 
and their braces to the floor the proper distance 
apart, being sure to keep the bars parallel. For 



160 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

still greater rigidity and security place cleats of 
2x3 material around the base of each leg (Fig. 
13a) and your bars will be complete and will ap- 
pear as in Fig. 14. 

PUNCHING-BAG DISKS 

Boys can get a lot of fun out of punching-bags. 
There is no better exercise indoors and, in ad- 
dition, it is splendid practice in dodging blows 
and obtaining skill in using your fists. 

The bags themselves are not very expensive, 
but the ready-made disks usually cost quite a 
good deal. There is no reason why any boy 
should not have a punching-bag, however, for the 
disks are easy to make and an old football may 
be used for the bag if you cannot afford a regular 
one. 

Sometimes there is not enough space for a 
disk in the centre of the floor of a home gym- 
nasium and I will therefore describe two forms, 
one for the centre of the room and the other to 
be placed near one of the walls. To construct 
the latter you will require some 1-in. lumber 
and some 2x2 scantling. The first step is to 
place three or four boards — aggregating 3 ft. in 
width — close together edge to edge on a smooth 



FITTING UP A GYMNASIUM 



161 



surface. Tack them lightly in place to prevent 
their sliding or slipping about and with a string 
and a piece of chalk draw a circle with a radius 
of 18 in. on the boards (Fig. 15a). With your 



P L__i I — * 



Fio. 15a 



/fTls 



PlQ. 15b 





compass-saw cut around the circle and again 
place the boards side by side on the floor or 
bench. Get out two pieces of 2 x 2 material each 
7 ft. in length and place them on the circle of 
boards at right angles to the joints and with 
one end just even with the edge of the circle 



162 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

and with the two pieces 16 in. apart on their 
inner edges and with their outer edges 8 in. from 
the outer edge of the circle (Fig. 156). Tack 
them in position, using nails that will not go 
clear through the boards, and then fasten each 
board securely to the two pieces by wood-screws 
driven down through the cross-pieces. Round 
and smooth off the edge of the circular piece and 
the ends of the cross-pieces that are even with it. 
On the wall selected for the disk screw a 2 x 2 
cleat 24 in. long at the desired height of the disk 
and 2 in. above this place a second cleat, first 
boring holes from top to bottom of the cleats at 
about 2^ and 3 in. from each end. Now select a 
piece of 2 x 2 stuff about 6 ft. long and saw off one 
end at an angle of 45 degrees and to this fasten 
a piece of 1-in. wood with screws (Fig. 15c). 
Tack this lightly to the wall about 4, 5 or 6 ft. 
above the upper cleat, the height depending upon 
the height of the room. If there is 6 ft. of space 
above the cleat place the piece as near the ceiling 
as possible and if the ceiling is only 4 ft. from 
the cleat tack the piece a shorter distance above 
the cleat to correspond and see that the piece 
is at one side of the end of the cleats, not in the 
centre over them. Place a piece of 1-in. board 



FITTING UP A GYMNASIUM 163 

across the cross-pieces on the disk, slip the cross- 
pieces between the cleats and with your level 
adjust it until it is perfectly level. Then slide 
the loose piece of 1-in. stuff along until it touches 
the slanting piece fastened to the wall and mark 
along this slanting piece where the upper side 
of the loose board crosses it. Take down the disk, 
pull the slanting piece from the wall and saw it 
off where you marked it. To this end screw the 
piece of 1-in. board, driving screws up from be- 
low and down from above as well and then screw 
the piece of board firmly to the cross-pieces on 
the disk so that the diagonal piece is exactly in 
the centre between the cross-pieces. Now once 
more place the disk in position between the cleats 
and screw the board at the end of the diagonal 
to the wall and then drive screws through the 
cleats into the projecting ends of the cross-pieces 
on the disk. The disk will then appear as in 
Fig. 15d and will be very firm and rigid. A disk 
made in this way will be just as useful and roomy 
as if in the centre of the floor, for the space of 
4 ft. between it and the wall will enable you to 
jump around it on all sides. If, however, there 
is not enough space in the room to permit the 
disk to project so far from the wall you can 



164 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

simply shorten up the projecting cross-pieces and 
bring it closer to the wall. 

The disk may be arranged to fold down flat 
against the wall, and out of the way when not in 
use, by hinging the cross-pieces to the wall in- 
stead of fastening them to cleats as described. 
The diagonal brace may also be hinged to the 
disk and secured to the wall when in use by 
means of a pin or rod shoved through staples or 
screw-eyes and a hole in the diagonal as illus- 
trated in Fig. 15e. 

To construct the disk for the centre of a room 
you should first cut out the disk as already de- 
scribed and screw a piece of 1-in. board 2 in. wide 
across the centre (Fig. 16a), with one end pro- 
jecting 3 in. beyond the edge. Mark off two 
other spaces equidistant from each other and 
from one end of the cross-piece, thus dividing 
the circumference into three equal parts. This is 
easily done, as the diameter (36 in.) will be prac- 
tically one-third of the circumference. Screw 
two other pieces of 1-in. x 2-in. stuff on these 
marks with their inner ends neatly meeting the 
cross-piece (Fig. 16a) and their other ends ex- 
tending 3 in. beyond the edge of the circle. One 
inch from the extreme outer ends of all three 



FITTING UP A GYMNASIUM 165 

pieces bore a couple of |-in. holes, each hole being 
^ in. from the edge of the cleats. Now decide 
on the height you wish the disk from the floor 
and cut three pieces of 2-in. x 2-in. material 18 in. 
longer than this height and also bore a hole 
through the exact centre of the disk. Place the 
three pieces of 2 x 2 material, one piece under 







FulVc 




each cross-piece on the disk, thus forming a tripod 
with the disk resting on the ends of the legs. 
Through the hole in the centre of the disk drop 
a line with a weight on the end and mark the spot 
on the floor where it touches. With this for a 
centre move the legs out or in until each is equi- 
distant from the centre mark and equidistant 
from one another, and when this is accomplished 
nail their outer ends lightly to the floor and screw 
them firmly to the pieces on the disk after cutting 



166 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

off the upper ends slightly so they will fit snugly 
up under the cross-pieces as shown in Fig. 17a. 
A short cleat of 2 x 2 stuff should be screwed to 
the floor at the outer side of each leg and two 
other pieces should be screwed to the floor around 
the legs to form a socket for each (Fig. 17b). 
The disk will now be quite strong and rigid and 
will sustain a great deal of weight from above, 
but as all the strain of the punching-bag will come 
from below it is necessary to guy the disk in posi- 
tion with wires or small wire ropes. This is done 
by passing wires through the holes in the cross- 
pieces as shown in Fig. 17c, and attaching the 
other ends to screw-eyes in the floor a foot or so 
beyond the end of each leg. The wires may be 
drawn very tight by fastening them to the eyes 
before the latter are turned in tight and then 
turning the eye into the floor or they may be 
tightened by small turnbuckles, which may be 
bought for a few cents at any hardware store. 
This punching-bag disk may be made easily re- 
movable by cutting little notches in the floor for 
the legs instead of nailing them down with cleats 
around them and by securing the upper ends of 
the legs to the cross-pieces of the disk by means 
of pins and eyes (Fig. 17 d). When set up in this 



FITTING UP A GYMNASIUM 167 

way and the wires are drawn taut the disk will 
be perfectly rigid. Until you have tried it your- 
self you cannot realise how strong and rigid any 
devices may be made by guys turned up tight. If 
you have ever seen acrobats on the stage, how- 
ever, you may have noticed that all their appli- 
ances were erected with fastenings of this sort 
and were so constructed as to be easily taken 
down and moved about. 

In addition to these various appliances you 
should erect horizontal bars, flying rings, trapezes, 
etc., none of which require any great amount of 
carpenter work ; and, moreover, you should build 
cupboards or lockers, racks for foils, gloves, etc., 
and should have shelves for other odds and ends. 
You will find that in fitting up a gymnasium there 
is a great opportunity for exhibiting your skill 
as a carpenter and from time to time you will 
be able to add new appliances and fixtures. 



CHAPTER XI 
RUSTIC CARPENTRY 

The back yard or the grounds of a summer home 
offer great opportunities to amateur carpenters. 
Settees, ornamental fences and gates, lawn- 
swings, summer-houses, pergolas, arbours, trel- 
lises and many other useful and ornamental ob- 
jects may be constructed. 

Out-of-doors carpentry may be carried on with 
ordinary timber and boards, but rustic work in 
wood with its natural bark adhering, or in plain 
wood which is afterwards covered with bark or 
rough natural branches, is usually far more 
artistic and attractive. In England rustic car- 
pentry is carried to extremes and most elaborate 
stables, garages, fences, gates, lodges and even 
dwelling-houses are built and finished in natural, 
bark-covered wood. In this country such objects 
are not so often seen, but many objects, such as 
summer-houses, pergolas, arbours, etc., are con- 
structed of bark-covered wood and are to be seen 
in private and public grounds. The wood used 
in this country is mainly red or white cedar poles 

168 



RUSTIC CARPENTRY 169 

and logs, for the cedar is very durable and the 
bark lasts a long time. Moreover, small, knotty 
cedars that are not fit for lumber are very abun- 
dant in many places and can be obtained very 
cheaply. Other woods will answer excellently and 
sassafras, hemlock, pine, scrub oak, hornbeam, 
maple, apple and many other trees will prove use- 
ful. Wild grapevines, as well as crooked, gnarled 
roots of grape and spruce, may be used to advan- 
tage in many places, while the rough half-round 
" slabs" from sawmills are most useful in out- 
of-doors carpentry. The boy who lives near the 
woods or who visits the forests often, may secure 
many interesting and odd formations which may 
be worked into the structures he builds. The 
gnarls of various trees, the limbs twisted and dis- 
torted by parasites and disease, the bent and 
crooked branches of wind-swept stunted trees 
and the crooked, tough roots of upturned trees 
are all useful and can be worked up into interest- 
ing features. By gathering such things whenever 
you see them you will soon accumulate a large 
assortment from which you will be able to select 
such as you require at any time. 

In out-of-doors carpentry, as in other branches 
of the art, the simplest things should be under- 



170 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

taken first and there is nothing much simpler 
than a rustic seat such as is shown in Fig. 1. For 
constructing the seat, poles or saplings about 
4 in. in diameter and some smaller poles will be 
required. For the ends select four poles 36 in. 
long and in each one bore 1-in. holes, placing one 
hole exactly in the centre of each post and an- 
other 3 in. from each end (Fig. 2a). Then cut 
six pieces, each 28 in. long, and cut down each 
end of each of these to fit snugly into the 1-in. 
holes. Drive them into place and secure with 
nails through the posts. Lay one of the gate-like 
ends on the floor and drill two more 1-in. holes 
in the upper sides of the posts 15 in. from the 
lower ends and bore another hole in each post 
6 in. from the lower end or 9 in. below the others 
(Fig. 2b). Repeat this operation with the other 
end and then cut four pieces, 6 or 7 ft. in length; 
trim down the ends to fit the holes, drive them in 
position and secure them with nails. Mark off a 
number of spaces along the upper sides of the up- 
per lengthwise poles and parallel with the ends 
and about 2 in. apart. Remove the ends again and 
on each of these marks bore f-in. holes an inch 
in depth. Cut a number of light poles 28 in. long 
and trim the ends to fit in these holes and drive 



EUSTIC CABPENTBY 



171 



them in place and fasten them with nails to form 
a ladder-like structure. Now replace the ends on 
the long poles, nail them securely and your frame- 
work will appear as in Fig. 2c. It will now be 
quite strong and rigid, but to make it still stronger 
diagonal pieces should be added between the 
cross-pieces of the ends and between the length- 




wise pieces on back and front. These may be 
light poles with the ends trimmed at an angle 
and nailed in position and mortised together 
where they cross (Fig. 2d). If desired, the open 
spaces between the cross-pieces on the ends and 
between the lengthwise poles may be filled in with 
gnarled roots, grapevines, cedar branches, etc., 
and the diagonals omitted, as the ornamental 
work will strengthen the bench sufficiently (Fig. 
3). The bench may be varied by making a back 



172 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

by setting a pole from one end post to another 
and filling in the space with light poles set into 
holes in this piece and the upper lengthwise piece. 
In fact the bench may be formed in numerous 
designs while constructing it on the same general 
principles and the amateur carpenter may use 
his taste and ingenuity in making as many differ- 




ent styles and patterns of these benches as he 
desires. 

In making rustic garden furniture, etc., you 
should aim to avoid abrupt angles, straight lines 
and square corners as far as possible and should 
try to make the various objects as artistic, 
rustic and unconventional as your taste and the 
materials permit. Rough, crooked and curved 
sticks, roots and branches may be built into very 
comfortable and durable settees, etc., but in ac- 
complishing this you should always make the 



EUSTIC CAEPENTEY 173 

various joints as neatly as you can and should 
use galvanized or copper or brass nails and brass 
screws, for plain iron fastenings soon rust 
and are unsightly. Cedar or other barks endure 
out of doors for some time without preparation 
or finish of any sort, but if given a coat of oil 
or waterproof spar-varnish they will last much 
longer. In using the varnish, where a dull sur- 
face is desired it may be thinned with turpentine 
until it dries without a gloss. Where the ma- 
terials are stripped of the bark and left in nat- 
ural wood a coat of either dull or glossy varnish 
may be given either with or without staining. 
Joints may be made by trimming the end of one 
piece of wood to fit snugly against another and 
then nailing as in Fig. 4a, or the end may be 
worked down round and set into holes as already 
described. Still another method is to mitre the 
ends of the pieces where they join others, as 
shown in Fig. 4&, while for small or especially 
good work tenon-joints like Fig. 4c may be em- 
ployed. Sometimes lashed joints will be found 
very useful and will add greatly to the appear- 
ance of the article. The lashings may be made 
with strips of tough bark, rattan — such as is used 
in caning chairs — or raffia. Where no great 



174 THE AMATEUR CARPENTEE 





Fio.46 l ' l l 




Fio. 4c 



Fia.5 




Fid. 5o 




KUSTIC CAEPENTRY 175 

strain comes upon the joint entire reliance may 
be placed on lashings alone, but as a rule it is 
safer to nail or screw the parts together and 
add the lashings to reinforce the joints as well 
as to conceal the fastenings. 

Plant stools, such as shown in Fig. 5, are pretty 
and useful objects either in the garden or the 
house and are easily made. The tops should be 
cut from common 1-in. boards or old packing 
cases. The legs are merely four straight pieces 
of apple, cedar or similar woods with the bark 
on and are 10 in. long and about 1 in. in diameter. 
One end of each leg is squared off at an angle 
on one side, as shown in Fig. 5a, for a distance 
of 4 in., and the legs are fastened to a block of 
wood 3 in. square and 4 in. long (Fig. 5&). The 
top is then screwed to the block by long screws 
driven down through the upper side. The 
wooden block and the top should be given a coat 
of thin asphaltum varnish or dull-grey or brown 
paint and when this is dry the top should be 
finished by placing thin, selected, straight pieces 
of smooth bark across it, with small wire brads 
for fastenings. Let the ends of the pieces pro- 
ject slightly and trim them off smooth and evenly 
with the edges of the top. Then nail pieces of 



176 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

half-round wood, with bark on, around the edges, 
mitring the ends where they join (Fig. 5c), and 
allowing the upper edges to project enough to 
conceal the cut ends of the bark nailed on the 
top. The lower edges should also project about 
\ in. below the edge of the top (Fig. 5d). If you 
cannot procure pieces of just the right width to 
accomplish this you can use two or more nar- 
rower strips as shown in Fig. 5e. The exposed 
portions of the centre block, between the legs, 
are also covered with bark and cross-pieces of 
grapevine or slender, bark-covered branches are 
nailed diagonally across the legs. The top may 
be made still more attractive by arranging the 
strips of bark in ornamental patterns (Fig. 5/). 
Similar stools may be used as seats by making 
the tops round or square, while by making them 
higher and adding a lower shelf little reading or 
tea tables may be formed. Window or porch- 
boxes for growing plants may be easily con- 
structed by lining old packing-boxes, or boxes 
made for the purpose, with zinc and covering the 
exterior with pieces of bark or half-round, bark- 
covered sticks as illustrated in Fig. 6. For 
flower stands in the yard or for holding a number 
of growing plants in pots a stand similar to that 



RUSTIC CARPENTRY 177 

in Fig. 6a may be constructed. The size will de- 
pend upon the number and size of the pots or 
the size of the box it is to contain, but for our 
description we can assume dimensions of 3 ft. 
long, 3 ft. high and 10 in. wide. The legs are 
slightly-curved branches, which may be natural, 
but as it is hard to find four pieces of equal size 
with the same curve it will usually be necessary 
to obtain the curve by artificial means. The best 
way to accomplish this is to select fresh, green 
sticks a little longer than the desired length of 
the legs and cut notches an inch from each end. 
Fasten flexible wire cord or stout hemp cord 
from notch to notch, like a double bowstring, and 
by means of a stick twist the cord until the de- 
sired curve is obtained (Fig. 6b). By twisting 
more or less the same curve may be obtained on 
all four pieces, when they should be set aside to 
dry. In a few weeks the cord may be removed 
and the saplings will retain the curve per- 
manently. They will, however, spring back 
slightly, so the original bend given them should 
be greater than you desire in the finished up- 
rights. The rails should be tenoned, or cut round 
and fitted into holes in the legs as in Fig. 6c, and 
across the lower rails pieces of flat wood or 



178 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

narrow slats should be fastened for the box or 
pots to rest upon. The stand is then finished by 
nailing pieces of round or half-round, bark-cov- 
ered wood from rail to rail, using your own taste 
for the pattern (Fig. 6a). Other forms of tub 
or pot stands are illustrated in Figs. 7, 8, 9. That 
shown in Fig. 9 is constructed from a half -barrel 
or tub supported on strong stout legs of oak, 
stripped of bark ; on large apple limbs, or in fact 
on any gnarled, twisted or crooked natural wood. 
You may have to search some time before you 
can find pieces which have just the right curves 
to form a secure support for the half -barrel, but 
by cutting away on the inner sides and trying 
first one way and then another you can usually 
adjust them to hold the tub securely. The legs 
are then firmly fastened together by long bolts 
passed through from side to side (Fig. 9a), and 
a lashing of bark or rattan or strips of bark- 
covered wood are fastened around the supports 
to conceal the bolt-heads. The tub should be 
painted with grey or brown paint and covered 
with bark or half-round branches nailed upon it 
in ornamental patterns. An easier method, which 
will look almost as well when completed, is to 
support the tub upon a central, straight piece 



EUSTIC CARPENTRY 



179 



with a table-like top and secure the legs to this 
as illustrated in Fig. 9b. This method has the 
advantage that the tub itself may be removed 
for placing indoors or elsewhere or other tubs 




may be substituted for it on the standard. A 
very attractive form of plant-box is illustrated 
in Fig. 10. This is made from a square wooden 
box with corner legs cut away and fastened to 
the box as indicated in Fig. 10a. The sides and 



180 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

ends are then covered with pieces of alternating 
light and dark wood as shown. Among the vari- 
ous common trees you will be able to find barks 
of various shades running all the way from the 
almost pure white of birch and young maple 
through greys and browns to almost black, and 




Piq. 10a 



by judiciously combining these very pretty de- 
signs may be accomplished. In cutting sticks for 
rustic work, where the bark is to remain on the 
wood, be sure to gather them in midwinter. At 
that season the sap is at rest and the bark ad- 
heres firmly to the wood, whereas the same woods 
cut in summer or spring would peel and flake 
off. 

Chairs are perhaps the most difficult of all 
rustic furnishings to build, but still with a little 
care and trouble any amateur carpenter can make 
very useful, comfortable and durable chairs. In 



RUSTIC CARPENTRY 181 

Fig. 11 a large armchair is illustrated which is 
simple to construct. The legs are four evenly- 
curved pieces of saplings or limbs, those for the 
front being 2 ft. long and those for the rear 2 ft. 
10 in. long and all about 2 in. to 3 in. in diameter, 
as strength in this chair is essential. The front 
rail of the seat is 1 ft. 2 in. long and about 2 in. 
in diameter and should be set into the legs by 
cutting the ends round and driving them into 
holes in the uprights. The rear seat-rail is 1 ft. 
long and 2 in. in diameter and the side rails are 
the same diameter and 1 ft. 3 in. in length, all 
secured to the uprights in the same manner. If 
you desire, the ends of the several rails may be 
tenoned and mortised into the legs, or they may 
be trimmed concave and fitted with dowel pins 
to be inserted in holes (Fig. 11a). In any event 
they should be driven together firmly and fast- 
ened with nails or screws passed through the 
legs and the inserted ends of the rails and a 
lashing of roots, rattan or raffia should be placed 
over and around them. On the inner sides of 
the legs cleats are fastened (Fig. 116) to support 
the first front and back cross-pieces of the seat, 
the upper ends of the cleats being the same 
height as the centre of the rails. The cross- 



182 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

pieces are fitted neatly to rest upon the round 
rails and should be secured with fine nails well 
sunk beneath the surface of the wood. The arms 
and back are composed of three pieces joined to- 
gether, exactly over the ends of the rear legs, by 
means of lapped or scarfed joints (Fig. lie). 
The diagonals for back and sides are then fitted 




in and the braces from legs to seat added. The 
edge of the seat may be left untouched, or if de- 
sired a little ornamental fringe of sticks may be 
added as shown in Fig. lid. The chair may be 
constructed of peeled or unbarked wood, as de- 
sired, but as a rule the seat should be of peeled 
material, as the rough bark is liable to tear or 
wear clothing. 

Sometimes a rough board-fence or gate is an 
unsightly and ugly object about an otherwise at- 



RUSTIC CARPENTRY 183 

tractive garden. The fence may of course be 
hidden by vines, shrubbery or tall plants, but the 
gate cannot be thus concealed. In such cases 
rustic carpentry may be brought into play with 
excellent results. By covering the gate, the posts 
and a few feet of the fence on either side with 
natural bark-covered sticks the ugly board-gate 
may be transformed into a very pretty and 
artistic object (Fig. 12). If the gate is square 
or angular an ornamental or curved superstruc- 
ture may be added as in Fig. 13, or the natural 
branches used in covering it may be extended up 
on one side as in Fig. 14. 

Where small saplings, odds and ends of brush 
and trimmed branches and similar material are 
abundant very pretty and useful fences may be 
formed. Such fences are so simple to build that 
no detailed description is necessary, the only care 
required being to set the posts firmly and plumb 
and to make the joints of the various pieces neat 
and strong. In Fig. 15 two rustic fence designs 
are illustrated, with designs for gates in Fig. 16. 
Such gates are best hung with rough, heavy, 
pivot-hinges driven into the wood as indicated in 
the diagram (Fig. 17). 

Trellises and arbours may be constructed in a 



184 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 




Fig, 12 




Pig. 14 



similar manner, and such affairs will always ap- 
pear much prettier in winter, when the covering 
foliage has fallen off, than the square board and 
timber affairs so often seen. 

If you have a small stream, pond or water- 



RUSTIC CARPENTRY 185 

course on the grounds you can use your ingenuity 
and skill in constructing artistic bridges across 
it. Such a bridge may be made by simply placing 
good-sized posts or logs from one bank to the 
other, boarding it over and fitting natural bark- 
covered rails and sides, or it may be patterned 
after a Japanese design. In the former case the 
upright end-posts should be tongued or tenoned 
to the side-logs (Fig. 18), and the latter should 
be supported upon a firm foundation. A hole 
dug into the earth and filled with large stones, a 
stout post set into the ground, or some similar 
support, will prevent the ends of the timbers 
from settling and distorting or wracking the 
bridge. The hand-rails and struts should also 
be fastened securely to posts and girders by 
tenons or dowels and the ornamental pieces 
should all be hollowed at the ends to form neat 
joints where they are attached to the posts, rails, 
etc. 

The Japanese bridge is just as simply made, 
but the girders are curved logs and the rails 
and other work are curved also. The details are 
fully shown in Fig. 19. 

If you wish a pergola in the garden you will 
find that natural bark-covered material lends 



186 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

itself very nicely to the work and is far less ex- 
pensive and much more ornamental than the 





turned and sawed, white-painted conventional 
pergolas of formal gardens. Even a rustic 
summer-house is not difficult to construct from 



EUSTIC CARPENTRY 187 

natural, bark-covered saplings and a few good 
stout posts, and in fact a summer-house or shelter 
of this sort is much easier to build than a framed 
and timbered board building of the same size. 
The easiest way to build such a house is to erect 
a stout centre post, or if you have an old tree 
that is of no particular use you can use this, and 
from this central support run diagonal pieces to 
six or eight upright posts as shown in Fig. 20. 
It is not necessary to tenon or mortise these roof- 
beams to the uprights, for if attached by joints 
made as shown in Fig. 20a it will be strong 
enough. The lower rail is then fastened from 
post to post, roof battens are nailed across the 
diagonals and the ornamental work is placed in 
position. The roof may be finished by shingling 
or by strips of bark nailed over it, but the latter 
will be far from waterproof in heavy showers. 
The neatest and most attractive roof is a thatched 
roof, and it is regrettable that more of these 
common European roof coverings are not used 
in America. 

Thatching is easy, simple work, and any boy 
can learn to thatch a roof that will serve every 
purpose for a summer-house, tool-house or out- 
of-doors building of small size, although to thatch 



188 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

a large building or a dwelling-house so as to be 
weather- and rainproof is quite an undertaking 
and requires a great deal of skill and practice. 
Almost any material, such as rushes, straw, grass 
or cat-tails, may be used as thatch. The material 
should be tied into bundles of equal size, known 
technically as "yelvens," which are sewed to the 
battens of the roof by means of a long needle and 
tarred rope. For the amateur's purpose a long, 
heavy upholsterer's needle and tarred gardener's 
twine or "marline" will answer every purpose. 
Begin at the eaves and sew a number of bundles 
side by side for as wide a distance as you can 
conveniently reach on each side of the ladder 
on which you stand. This is known to a thatcher 
as a "stelch." When one stelch is done lay an- 
other over it with the new layer of bundles, cov- 
ering the cords which secure the first layer to 
the roof (Fig. 20b), and continue to work upward, 
placing one layer over another until the ridge 
or apex of the roof is reached. In placing each 
new layer or stelch, however, you should take 
care to blend the edges of each bundle together 
and not make the layers " bunchy " or uneven. 
The quality and waterproof properties of the en- 
tire thatch depend very largely upon this little 



RUSTIC CARPENTRY 



189 




Fio. 23a 



190 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

matter. After carrying up the thatch to the 
top of the roof begin again at the eaves and 
lay another series of stelches, blending and com- 
bining the edges where they join and always 
"breaking joints" where one bundle overlaps an- 
other (Fig. 20c). When the roof is completely 
covered on all sides, finish the apex with a little 
bundle of thatch, which should be tightly bound 
to the central pole with several lashings of tarred 
twine. Then with a coarse wooden rake smooth 
down and straighten out the thatch and finish by 
binding it down with "buckles and runners.' ' 
The buckles consist of pieces of willow or alder 
withes twisted and doubled and with pointed ends 
like gigantic hairpins. The "runners" are 
merely straight strips of light willow or alder 
and are laid across the thatch and are secured by 
the "buckles," which are shoved upwards instead 
of straight into the thatch, in order to prevent 
rain from entering around them. The buckles 
and runners may be plain, as in Fig. 21 A, or they 
may be made ornamental by placing diagonal 
pieces between the plain runners (Fig. 21 B) . For 
most purposes, at least two belts of buckles and 
runners should be used. Lastly, the lower, pro- 
jecting edges of the thatch should be trimmed off 



EUSTIC CAEPENTRY 191 

evenly and smoothly with a heavy pair of grass- 
clipping shears. Within the summer-house a 
bench may be built around the sides, and if de- 
sired an ornamental rustic table may be con- 
structed around the central post as illustrated in 
Fig. 22. 

If you already have boarded buildings or out- 
buildings on the premises they may be made to 
resemble real log houses by the use of "slabs," 
which are the bark-covered, partly-rounded 
pieces cut from mill logs when being sawed into 
boards. As they are waste material and only fit 
for firewood, they are very cheap, but for the 
purposes of the rustic carpenter they are ex- 
tremely useful. The slabs may be nailed to the 
buildings in a perpendicular position or they may 
be nailed horizontally. In the latter position they 
form a covering which closely resembles a real 
log cabin and by arranging them as in Fig. 23, 
and fastening sections of logs (Fig. 23a) to imi- 
tate the ends of the alternating logs, the decep- 
tion can be carried to such perfection that at a 
distance of a few yards no one can distinguish the 
cheap, easily-constructed slab-covered building 
from the expensive and complicated building 
built of real logs. 



CHAPTER XII 
MAKING SMALL BUILDINGS 

Although it is far beyond the province of this 
book to describe how to design and erect houses 
or other large buildings, yet any smart boy can 
easily build small, inexpensive sheds, workshops, 
garages or similar buildings, and a few hints as 
to how the work should be done will be of value. 
In constructing large buildings accurate plans 
and scale-drawings are made and the timbers and 
other materials are cut, mortised and prepared 
before erecting them. In fact the frame of such 
a building is all worked out and made ready on 
the ground and is done so accurately and with 
so much system that the pieces fit together and 
form the skeleton of the building as if by magic 
when the various parts are raised into position. 
All this requires skill, practice and a knowledge 
of the builder's art, which is a distinct profession 
from that of the carpenter. Of course lots of 
carpenters are builders and most builders are 
carpenters, but there are many splendid wood- 

.192 



MAKING SMALL BUILDINGS 193 

workers and carpenters who could not by any 
possibility build a house and would not even un- 
derstand what the blue-print plans meant. 

In building small sheds, playhouses, workshops 
and similar structures one may proceed quite dif- 
ferently and may cut the various timbers and 
materials, fit them together and place them in 
position as the work proceeds. Moreover, in such 
small buildings mortised and tenoned joints are 
not essential, for ordinary half-and-half and 
lapped joints will serve every purpose and will 
save a lot of time and labour. If the boy car- 
penter wishes practice and desires to exhibit his 
knowledge and skill in carpenter work he can 
mortise, tenon and dowel every joint if he pleases, 
but the building will really be no better than one 
built with much simpler and more easily con- 
structed joints. 

A great mistake that many amateurs and pro- 
fessionals make when erecting small buildings is 
to use timbers which are too small or light. Al- 
though perfectly sound, clear timber is very 
strong and even a small scantling will support 
a great deal of weight and will withstand 
enormous strains, yet few scantlings are clear, 
straight-grained, free from imperfections, etc. 



194 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

The strength of board or timber is only the 
strength of its weakest spot, just as the strength 
of a chain is the strength of its weakest link, and 
a timber which has a large knot or a crooked- 
grained weak spot in it is no stronger than that 
one weak portion. For this reason you should 
allow considerable excess strength, so that even 
the weakest portions of the timbers will be strong 
enough to support the weights and resist the 
strains imposed upon it. 

Always bear in mind that upright pieces will 
support a greater weight than horizontal timbers 
of the same size, and also remember that timbers 
or planks set edgewise will support a far greater 
weight than if set sidewise. A 2-in. plank 6 in. 
wide will support an enormous load if set on edge, 
whereas the same plank, laid flat, would bend 
and break with a small part of the same 
load. 

Don't overlook the fact that timbers and 
boards not only have to support the other tim- 
bers — the boards, shingles and all other parts of 
the building above them — but must also be strong 
enough to bear the added weight of snow and ice 
in winter time. Snow is very heavy, and many 
a flimsily-built building has collapsed under the 



MAKING SMALL BUILDINGS 195 

weight of ice and snow upon its roof. Moreover, 
the pressure of winds must be taken into consid- 
eration, for even a moderate gale will exert tre- 
mendous strains upon the sides, roof and tim- 
bers of a small building. Last of all, remember 
that upon the security and firmness of the founda- 
tion depends in large measure the durability of 
the building, and that a poor or weak foundation 
will soon settle and throw the building out of 
plumb and will wrack and strain every joint. 
Even a small shed weighs many hundred pounds 
and the entire weight rests upon the foundations. 
If the building is erected upon the bare earth it 
may seem solid and firm, but you must recollect 
that the consistency of this earth is never con- 
stant. In winter it may be frozen as hard as 
rock, in rainy weather it is soft and gives under 
the weight and in dry weather it shrinks and 
cracks or becomes loose and sandy. Before erect- 
ing even a small tool-house make the foundations 
secure and strong. The old Bible parable of the 
house built upon sand and the one built upon 
rocks is an excellent thing for the young builder 
to bear in mind. Let the corners of your build- 
ing rest upon stones or stout posts driven or 
sunk several feet in the earth. If no large, firmly- 



196 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

embedded rock can be found or used as a support, 
dig a good-sized hole and fill it with small rocks 
and place a flat rock on top of those beneath. 
Bricks may also be used if rocks are not at hand. 
Of all foundations nothing excels concrete, and, 
if possible, use this material. Cedar, cypress or 
chestnut posts sunk into the earth will last many 
years, and if given a good coating of asphalt, 
copper-paint, creosote or even ordinary paint 
they will endure much longer. 

Having decided upon the dimensions and loca- 
tion of your building, which we will assume is 
to be 12 ft. x 10 ft., mark off the proper size on 
the earth by means of stakes and twine stretched 
between them and build your foundation or posts 
at the four corners. Then cut two pieces of 
3x4 scantling, each 12 ft. long, and two more 
10 ft. long, and make neat halved joints at the 
ends of all. Place these upon the corner founda- 
tions, squaring the corners true and levelling up 
on all sides until all these sills are perfectly level. 
If the foundation stone on one corner is too high 
cut away a little on the timber where it rests upon 
it or knock off a little of the support. If the 
foundation is slightly too low place a thin board 
or a small stone under the timber to bring it level 



MAKING SMALL BUILDINGS 197 

with the others. Herein lies the advantage of 
posts over stones, for the tops of the posts may 
be sawed off or the post driven a little deeper 
in the earth to level the sills. 

Nail the fonr corner joints firmly with large 
wire nails and on each corner level off a smooth 
space on which to rest the uprights. These four 
corner posts are of 3 x 4 stuff, those for the front 
9 ft. long and those for the rear 7 ft., for the little 
building is to have a "lean-to" roof, which is 
just as serviceable and far easier to make than 
a peaked or ridged roof. 

Place a 9-ft. timber and a 7-ft. timber (4-in. side 
down) on a smooth surface 12 ft. apart from the 
outer edges and place a straight timber at right 
angles to them and just touching the ends, and 
with your square true them up until the two are 
equidistant apart and are square with the other 
timber. Now place a straight piece of board or 
strip of wood across from one of the posts to 
the other and with the upper edge just flush with 
the forward edge of the two (Fig. 1), and mark 
a diagonal line across the timbers where the 
straight edge crosses them (Fig. la). Saw off 
along these lines and cut the other two posts to 
correspond. Place the corner front post in posi- 



198 THE AMATEUR CAEPENTER 

tion with the square end resting on the corner 
of the sill and with the 4-in. side along the side 
sill and the 3-in. side flush with the front sill 
(Fig. lb), and tack the post with one or two nails 
driven as in Fig. lc to the sill. Tack two light 
pieces of boards diagonally from the side and 
front of the post to the sills and by means of 
these and your perpendicular level adjust the post 
until absolutely plumb (Fig. Id). Repeat these 
operations with the other two posts (taking care 
that the sloping upper ends of the posts have the 
highest edges towards the front) and nail them 
all securely. Get out two pieces of 3 x 3 stuff 11 
ft. 4 in. long and two pieces 9 ft. 6 in. long. 
Measure 6 ft. from the top of the sills on each 
of the four posts on the sides and back and 7 ft. 
from the sills on the front, and mark the posts 
at these spots. Place one of the 11 -ft. 4-in. tim- 
bers between the front and back posts on one 
side with the lower edge just flush with the marks 
6 ft. from the sills and nail it firmly to the posts 
by driving nails through as shown in Fig. le. 
Place the other 11 ft.-4-in. timber on the opposite 
side between the two posts, and place one of the 
9-ft. 6-in. pieces across from one rear post to the 
other at the 6-ft. marks, and finally secure the 



MAKING SMALL BUILDINGS 199 







yz.y* 



.Fig. 1 




t 



Fig. lc- 



Fig. le 



n =f? 

I ' Fig. la I I 



200 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

last 11-ft. 4-in. piece between the two front posts 
at the 7-ft. mark, being sure to keep the outer 
edges of the pieces flush with the outside edges of 
the uprights. 

Now cut two pieces of 3 x 3 timber each 7 ft. 
long and four pieces 6 ft. in length. Fasten the 
two 7-ft. pieces in an upright position for door- 
posts, between the sills and the cross-piece 7 ft. 
from them, setting them 3 ft. apart and either in 
the centre or at one side, according to whether you 
wish the door in the centre or at one side of your 
shop. Fasten two of the 6-ft. pieces on each side 
between the cross-pieces and the sills for window- 
frame posts, placing them 3 ft. apart, and in all 
cases keeping the outer edges flush with the outer 
edges of the other timbers. Cut two pieces of 
3x3 stuff 10 ft. long and fasten them, one be- 
tween the two front posts and one between the 
two rear posts just even with the tops of the 
posts and with outer edges. even with the outer 
edges of the posts, uniting them' together as 
shown. Cut three timbers of 3 x 3 each 13 J ft. 
long, and place them from front to rear, placing 
one on each side from post to post and the other 
halfway between. Allow about 8 in. of these to 
project at the forward end, letting the rear ends 



MAKING SMALL BUILDINGS 



201 



also project and nail them in position to the 
posts and upper cross-timbers. From side to side 
across these roof beams nail pieces of 2x3 
scantling each 11 ft. long, and letting 6 in. on 
each end project beyond the sides of the frame 
and spacing the cross-pieces 3 ft. apart so that 
there is one at each extreme end of the sloping 
timbers and three between them (Fig. 2a). Di- 




rectly over the centre of each of the window 
spaces fit a piece of 2 x 3 timber between the 
sloping roof timbers and the cross-pieces 6 ft. 
from the sills, and place a similar piece between 
the roof timber and cross-piece 7 ft. from the sills 
over the door space as shown in the cut. At the 
rear fit another piece of the 2x3 material in the 
centre from sill to cross-piece and another over 
it between the cross-piece and roof timber. 



202 THE AMATEUE CARPENTER 

Between the posts at the sides of the window 
fasten pieces of 3 x 3 timber 3 ft. from the sills, 
and your frame will be complete and will appear 
as in Fig. 2ab. The diagonal light pieces used to 
secure the corner posts while truing up may now 
be removed and you can proceed to board up the 
building. 

Use matched boards of cheap, fairly clear wood 
and first cover the roof, so that if it rains you 
will have some protection from the weather while 
finishing the rest of the building. To sheath the 
roof place a piece of the board, from which the 
tongue has been planed off, with the planed edge 
flush with the outer ends of the roof timbers, and 
nail it in position. Place another board along- 
side, drive the matched edges tightly together, 
using a piece of board for the purpose (Fig. 2c), 
and nail this one to the various timbers it crosses. 
Continue in this way until the entire roof is cov- 
ered and cut the last board to fit exactly even 
with the ends of the timbers on the opposite side 
from where you commenced. It is a waste of 
material to try and cut the boards to length be- 
fore nailing in place, and you will save lots of 
time and trouble by selecting those nearest the 
proper length and trimming the uneven ends off 



MAKING SMALL BUILDINGS 203 

square after they are nailed in position. As the 
roof is to be covered with roofing paper or 
shingles the boards need not all extend the whole 
length from front to back but may be placed in 
pieces of any length, as long as the butt ends join 
over one or the other of the timbers. 

To board the sides commence at one corner, 
with a board from which the tongue has been 
planed, and proceed around the side to the next 
corner. If a groove comes just even with the 
corner it will do no harm, but as a rule the last 
board will have to be marked and cut to fit. Let 
the boards extend from top to bottom of the shed 
wherever possible, and when pieces are too short 
save them for filling in about windows, doors and 
short spaces. Each board must be cut slanting 
at one end for the side sheathing, but the slant 
need not be exact, for weatherboards will be fitted 
over them at the upper ends before the build- 
ing is complete. Above and below the window 
openings and above the doors let the boards come 
very even and flush with the timbers, but if they 
run down an inch or two below the sills it makes 
no difference. When the sides and ends are all 
sheathed nail a neatly fitting board along each 
side and across each end under the eaves (Fig. 



204 THE AMATEUR CABPENTER 

3 A), thus covering the upper ends of the sheath- 
ing. On the lower sides of the roof timbers nail 
well-fitted boards to cover the open spaces be- 
tween the timbers (Fig. 3Z>), and nail other 
boards over the outer ends of the projecting tim- 
bers and the last boards as in Fig. 3 C. Along the 
lower edges of all the sheathing nail boards neatly 
fitted at the corners (Fig. 3D), and nail two 
boards at each corner, breaking the joints with 
the sheathing as shown in Fig. 3 E. The next step 
is to finish the door and window frames. Fit 
smooth boards around the inner surfaces of the 
window frames, allowing the outer edges of the 
side and top pieces to come flush with the outer 
surface of the sheathing (Fig. 4zA), and letting 
the strip on the lower frame project an inch or 
more beyond the sheathing (Fig. 4Z?). Around 
the frame on the sheathing, outside, nail four 
boards with the ends mitred and covering the 
edges of the liners on top and sides as in Fig. 4 C, 
and fitting snugly under the one at the bottom 
(Fig. 4D). Above the window fasten two tri- 
angular brackets and on top of these nail a piece 
of 6 in. x | in. board. Fasten a strip of zinc over 
this, tack it snugly to the wall with tar or cement 
behind it (Fig. 4 2?), and the window frame will 



MAKING SMALL BUILDINGS 



205 



be ready for the window sash or shutters. Treat 
the door frame in the same manner and then 
make a good, strong wooden door to fit it. To 
make a door place strips of the matched boards 
on the floor or bench and cleat them together in 
the desired form by two cleats straight across 



H—t- 




and another diagonally between them, all being 
screwed firmly to every board. Hang the door 
on good, strong hinges so it swings easily in the 
frame and fit a strip all around inside for it to 
bear against when closed. In order to prevent 
any water from entering under the door the sill 
should be cut slightly slanting or a sloping sill- 
piece should be used. 

A shutter for the window may be made like the 



206 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

door or a sash with glass may be fitted and 
hinged. In case yon intend to nse sash, however, 
it is a good plan to secnre the sashes first and 
build the window frames to fit them. The roof 
may be shingled or covered with rnbberoid or 
tarred roofing paper, but the latter is cheaper 
and easier to use than shingles. In placing the 
roofing paper on the roof run the breadths across, 
laying the back or rear edge breadth first and 
lapping the others slightly over the upper edge 
of each preceding breadth as you proceed. Be- 
fore roofing with the paper or rubberoid plane 
off all sharp edges of the sides and ends and 
turn the paper over the weatherboards all around 
and secure it neatly by narrow strips of wood 
nailed over the paper. 

If you are to shingle the roof use good quality 
shingles and begin at the lower or rear end and 
be sure to run the shingles even. To obtain 
straight rows of shingles measure off equal dis- 
tances on the edges of the roof, stretch strings 
across and use these guides for placing the shin- 
gles. If shingles are to be used you must give 
the roof a good slope or pitch and better results 
will be obtained if the forward end is made 10 ft. 
high instead of 9. 



MAKING SMALL BUILDINGS 207 

The floor should be laid from the sill on one 
side to the sill on the other, but as 10-ft. boards 
would spring and bend without some support a 
centre timber, or even two timbers, of 3x4 or 
3x3 stuff should be placed between front and 
rear sills before nailing the floor, and at this 
time additional posts or stones should be piled 
under the sills. 

When you have completed this little house you 
will be mighty proud of it, and if given a good 
coat of paint it will make a very attractive and 
neat little building. It may be greatly improved 
by the addition of a little porch or front steps 
or by some ornamental work around the eaves 
or over doors or windows, or, if you wish, you 
may cover it with rough bark-coated slabs and 
thus give it the appearance of a log cabin. The 
building is intended for use rather than orna- 
ment, however, and will prove a snug, comforta- 
ble little workshop for the amateur carpenter, and 
if vines and shrubs are planted about it, it will 
be very pretty in summer time. The same method 
of construction and practically the same dimen- 
sions may be used in building a garage, but for 
this purpose a concrete or heavy plank floor must 
be laid, wide sliding or folding doors must be 



208 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

provided and the lower end must be high enough 
to accommodate the car and driver. With these 
directions for building a little workshop at hand 
the ingenious amateur carpenter can easily design 
and construct small buildings for any purpose. 



CHAPTER XIII 
VARIOUS USEFUL HINTS AND RECIPES 

Finishing Floors 

It often happens that hardwood floors become 
worn, discoloured or stained and it is necessary 
to refinish them. Quite frequently, too, a pol- 
ished or hard-finished floor is desired and the ex- 
pense of a real hardwood floor stands in one's 
way. Worn, discoloured or otherwise injured 
hardwood floors may be easily renewed and re- 
finished and even ordinary soft wood floors may 
be finished to imitate genuine hardwood floors 
by the amateur carpenter, with little trouble and 
expense. 

Before anything can be done the floor must first 
be prepared. The first thing is to have the floor 
perfectly level. If it is an old, common floor, 
pull up all nails and tacks, which have been used 
in fastening carpets, and drive all other nails 
at least J in. below the surface with a nail-set. 
Putty all holes, small cracks and the spaces over 
the sunken nail heads. If there are knot-holes, 

209 



210 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

or similar imperfections in the floor, fill them 
with pegs or plugs of soft wood and fill wide 
cracks between the boards with strips of wood 
planed wedge-shape. Before driving in these 
wooden strips and pegs, coat them with good 
glue on all sides. Don't try to plane the floor 




Fig.1 



until all the glued pieces, putty, etc., have thor- 
oughly dried. In order to plane and level the 
floor a bull-nosed plane (Fig. 1) must be used, 
for it is impossible to plane close to the walls 
and into corners with a common plane. 

The floor must be thoroughly cleansed with hot 
water and soda or some strong washing powder, 
rubbed in with pumice stone or Bath-brick, and 
when thoroughly dry it should be rubbed smooth 
with sandpaper. Having planed, cleaned and 
sandpapered the floor the next step is to stain it. 



USEFUL HINTS AND EECIPES 211 

The floor may be stained all one colour to imitate 
some certain wood or it may be stained to imi- 
tate several woods or to imitate inlaid or par- 
quetry work. A simple and effective way to 
stain a floor is to dissolve four ounces of shellac 
in one pint of denatured or plain alcohol with 
enough colour added to give the desired shade. 
Thus brown umber will give a walnut colour, 
Venetian red will imitate mahogany, etc. This 
should be brushed evenly on the boards and 
when dry it should be smoothed with fine sand- 
paper. A second coat should then be applied 
and smoothed and a third or fourth may be given 
if a darker stain is required. The floor may be 
kept clean and fresh by occasionally wiping with 
a rag, wet with linseed oil, or it may be given a 
couple of coats of good spar or floor varnish. If 
a wax or French polish is desired it may be ap- 
plied directly over the shellac-stained floor. 

If the entire floor is desired in one colour 
the stain may be applied over the whole sur- 
face, but quite frequently an ornamental design 
or a border of a different colour is preferable. 
The beauty of any such design, or border, will 
depend a great deal upon the neatness with which 
it is made and the clean, even lines or edges 



212 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

where two colours meet. As it is often impos- 
sible to stain a board with two colours side by 
side without the tints running or spreading, the 
desired pattern should be marked on the floor and 
the outlines drawn in with some oil-paint or glue- 
sizing. This may be of the same tint as one of 
the stains used on the floor, or if paint is used 
it may be of some sharply-contrasting colour. 
The various stains may then be applied without 
danger of their running together. In some cases 
thick paint may be used for the designs, espe- 
cially if it is desired to imitate tile, but as a rule 
better effects are obtained by using stains. You 
may draw the patterns with rule and dividers, 
or you may make paper or thin cardboard sten- 
cils and use these, which is much the easier and 
better method. A sample design may be applied 
to some old board and the stencils may thus be 
altered until the desired effect is obtained. Care 
should be taken to have the design of such size 
that it will come out even on the floor. Nothing 
looks worse than to see a broken or partial design 
at a corner or end of a floor, or to see two 
different portions of a design joining. If tiles 
are imitated the dimensions of the squares should 
correspond to the width of the boards, — that is, 



USEFUL HINTS AND RECIPES 213 

if the boards are 6 in. wide the imitation tiles 
should be 6 in. square. Otherwise, when the 
boards shrink — as they inevitably will — the coun- 
terfeit tiles will appear cracked. 

After the design is laid on and thoroughly dry 
the entire floor should be given a coat of sizing 
and it may then be varnished, shellacked or other- 
wise finished. 

Veneering 

In a great many cases the cost of fancy or or- 
namental woods is so great that the carpenter 
and cabinet-maker cannot afford to use them, and 
in order to obtain the same results at less expense 
veneering is resorted to. Veneering consists of 
gluing very thin layers of wood onto any object, 
and practically all the mahogany, rosewood and 
other fancy wood articles of furniture, pianos, 
etc., are veneered. The basis of veneered work 
should, by preference, be soft wood, such as 
whitewood or pine, for although hard wood can 
be veneered a great deal more skill is required 
to accomplish it and the wood is always liable to 
warp, twist and crack after the work is done. 
It is very easy to veneer if one goes about it 
properly, but a great many amateurs become dis- 



214 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

gusted with trying to veneer, mainly because they 
do not understand the principles and require- 
ments. The first step is to prepare the object to 
be veneered as well as the veneer itself. The 
veneer must have all rough spots, saw-marks, 
etc., removed and the surface to be veneered 
must be smooth — but not polished — and free 
from all grease, dirt, polish, varnish, paint, 
etc. 

The veneer should be dampened, spread on a 
flat surface under weights and when dry should 
be planed and sandpapered smooth on one side 
and should be planed to an even, roughened sur- 
face with a toothing plane on the other side. If, 
while doing this, the veneer should be cracked 
or broken it may be easily repaired by gluing a 
piece of stiff paper on the smooth, or upper side. 
The veneer should be cut rather larger than the 
surface to be covered ; if much twisted, it may be 
damped and placed under a board and weight 
overnight. This saves a great deal of trouble; 
but with veneers that are cheap it is not worth 
while taking much trouble about refractory pieces. 
The wood to be veneered must now be sized with 
thin glue; the ordinary glue-pot will supply this 
by dipping the brush first into the glue, then into 



USEFUL HINTS AND RECIPES 215 

the boiling water in the outer vessel. This size 
must be allowed to dry before the veneer is laid. 

We will suppose now that the veneering proc- 
ess is about to commence, and that the glue is in 
good condition and boiling hot, the bench cleared, 
a basin of hot water with the veneering hammer 
and a sponge in it, a cloth or two, and every- 
thing in such position that one will not interfere 
with or be in the way of another. 

First, damp with hot water that side of the 
veneer which is not to be glued, then glue the 
other side. Second, go over, as quickly as pos- 
sible, the wood itself, previously toothed and 
sized. Third, bring the veneer rapidly to it, 
pressing it down with the outspread hands, and 
taking care that the edges of the veneer overlap 
a little all round. Fourth, grasp the veneering 
hammer close to the head (shaking off the hot 
water from it) and the handle pointing away 
from you; wriggle it about, pressing it down 
firmly, and squeezing the glue from the centre 
out at the edges. If it is a large piece of stuff 
which is to be veneered, the assistance of a hot 
iron will be wanted to make the glue liquid again 
after it has set; but don't let it dry the wood 
underneath it, or it will burn the glue and scorch 



216 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

the veneer, and ruin the work. Fifth, having 
pressed out all the glue possible, search the sur- 
face for blisters, which will at once be betrayed 
by the sound they give when tapped with the 
handle of the hammer. If present the hot iron 
(or the inner vessel of the glue-pot itself, which 
often answers the purpose) must be applied, and 
the process with the hammer repeated. 

When the hammer is not in the hand, it 
should be in the hot water. The whole work may 
now be sponged over with hot water, and wiped 
as dry as can be. And observe, throughout the 
above process, never have any slop and wet about 
the work that you can avoid. Whenever you 
use the sponge, squeeze it well first. Damp and 
heat are wanted, not wet and heat. It is a good 
thing to have the sponge in the left hand nearly 
all the time, ready to take up any moisture or 
squeezed-out glue from the front of the hammer. 

Wood-Carving Tools and Their Care 

In a great many cases furniture and other 
objects are greatly improved by ornamental 
carvings. Wood carving is fascinating work and 
is very easily learned. Some branches of the art 
are very simple, requiring but a few hours' work 



USEFUL HINTS AND KECIPES 217 

and the simplest of tools, while others require a 
great deal of skill, time and care. Oftentimes 
the simplest and easiest forms of carving are the 
most effective and in every case you should em- 
ploy a design or pattern which is in harmony 
with the rest of the work. If you have the proper 
tools and keep them clean, sharp and in good 
condition you will find little trouble in doing any 
carving you may require. The best woods to use 
are close-grained, fairly soft varieties, such as 
whitewood, walnut, mahogany, Spanish cedar, 
birch, beech, etc. Oak is quite easy to carve, but 
the harder and coarser grained the wood the 
more difficult it is to work. Books and books 
have been written on wood-carving, but printed 
directions are of little use in learning the art. 
Practice and common sense are far more impor- 
tant. Don't try to work too fast, but cut away a 
little at a time and always cut with the grain, 
not against it. Oftentimes it is a great help to 
have a pattern, or model, to follow and a good 
model may be made of putty, clay or any similar 
material. It is far easier to copy such a model 
than to follow a flat drawing, no mattter how 
well shaded it may be. 

Before commencing to carve, secure a block 



218 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

of the wood you intend to use and test and try 
your various tools in order to learn just the best 
motions to use, the amount you must bear on them 
to make good clean cuts, and the length of strokes 
necessary to accomplish the desired results. 

The first thing is to obtain the proper tools, 
and these are neither numerous nor expensive. 
The following will be found ample for the be- 
ginner, and as your skill increases and more com- 
plicated and difficult work is undertaken, you can 
add such as are needed. 

Three chisels — -J-, \- and ^-in. sizes. 

Three flat gouges of the same width as the 
chisels. 

Three half-round gouges of the same sizes. 

One "V" or parting tool. 

One "skean" or corner chisel. 

One small mallet. 

Two cramps for holding the work to the bench. 

One oil-stone. 

One slip-stone. 

One brace and bit or drill. 

One star punch and one checker punch. 

One tracing-point. 

Files, sandpaper, gimlets, hammer, etc. 

Of course several of these will already be 



USEFUL HINTS AND RECIPES 219 

among the tools mentioned as carpenter's tools 
and some of them, such as the bit-stock, gimlets, 
sandpaper, files, oil-stone, bit and hammer — 
may be found in the tool-chests of most ingenious 
boys. In making the purchases, however, beware 
of what are called ' * boy 's ' ' tools. They are cheap 
and pretty, but the material and temper are not 
what is required. Go, therefore, to some re- 
liable hardware store, and purchase such tools as 
are sold to mechanics — with good large handles, 
and finely though not fancifully finished — and 
you will have a set of really much more serv- 
iceable tools than any assortment that is usually 
put up for amateurs. A few of the tools — in- 
cluding the punches and the V or parting tools — 
can be had only from houses that deal in wood- 
carver's tools, but they may be ordered through 
any hardware merchant. 

Any good stout table will answer for a work- 
bench; but if you can procure a bench as made 
in the engraving, Fig. 2, it will greatly facilitate 
your operations. It should be at least 40 in. long 
by 24 wide, with a bench-vise at one end and a 
tray at the further side to hold the tools. The 
thickness of the bench should be at least 2 in., 
and it should be as firm and as solid as it can be 



220 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

made. It should be high enough for you to stand 
up to your work; and have holes bored through 
at convenient distances, in three rows, to insert 
the hold-fasts, of which a sketch is given (Fig. 3). 





Fig. 2 



Fig. 3 




Fig. 4 



The hold-fast is put into one of the holes, the 
work to be held is put under the pad, and the 
screw is turned until the work is firmly fixed. 
This hold-fast is used when the wood to be carved 
is too thin for the carver's screw to be inserted 
into it, and when it is not desirable to glue it 



USEFUL HINTS AND RECIPES 221 

down on another board. In using this hold-fast, 
always put a piece of some soft wood between 
the pad and the wood that you are carving, so as 
to prevent the teeth of the pad from marking it. 
It is not difficult to see that a deep scratch might 
interfere sadly with the delicate part of some 
leaf. Instead of the hold-fast, the carver's 
screw, which is better, may be used. It all lies 
below the table, and there is nothing in the way 
of the carver. This screw, with its nut or clamp, 
is shown in Fig. 4. To use it, remove the clamp, 
grasp the screw in the bench-vise between two 
scraps of wood, so as to save the jaws of the 
vise; screw the upper or sharp point into the 
block to be carved; pass the screw down through 
the bench, and then, by means of the clamp or 
nut, make it fast. Where the block is very thin, 
it should be glued to a thick block, a thickness of 
paper being glued between the two to facilitate 
their separation. 

The first thing to do is to learn to sharpen 
your tools. They generally come ready ground 
from the store, and merely require to be sharp- 
ened on an oil-stone. The oil-stone should be set 
in a block of wood, and fitted with a cover, so as 
to protect it from dust and dirt, and give it a 



222 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

broad, firm basis on which to stand. A small par- 
ticle of hard grit falling on the stone and remain- 
ing there while the tool is being sharpened, will 
often seriously injure a fine tool, and great care 
is therefore required in this respect. To keep 
an oil-stone in good condition, it must be kept 
clean and free from old gummed-up oil. When 
the oil becomes thick and gummy, the tool slides 
over it without being ground away, and your 
labour is lost. The best kind of oil, in my 
opinion, is good sweet oil. Some recommend 
kerosene, but I have found that it hardens the 
stone and injures it. It is also necessary that the 
stone for sharpening chisels, etc., should be kept 
perfectly flat. When it becomes irregular, the 
best method of making it true is to grind it down 
upon some flat gritty stone, with water, and after- 
wards smooth it off by rubbing it over with a flat 
slate charged with very fine emery. After hav- 
ing cleansed off the stone carefully, put a little 
oil on it, take one of your chisels, the handle in 
your right hand, put it on the stone, and holding 
it at the angle at which it has been ground, place 
the fingers of the left hand on the face, and with 
a moderate pressure rub it steadily backwards 
and forwards, looking at it frequently to see if 



USEFUL HINTS AND RECIPES 223 

you do not get it down too much and make what 
is called a wire-edge. When it is sharp enough, 
raise your right hand a little, give the edge of 
the chisel a semicircular forward sweep or two 
on the stone; then turn the face down, give it 
two rubs with a semicircular forward sweep, 
and your chisel will be sharp. If you should get 
a wire-edge, draw the tool over the edge of a 
table or board, and it will come off. If this does 
not remove it, stick the tool upright on the table, 
and bend it backwards and forwards; then put 
it on the stone again, giving it, with the hand 
raised, the semicircular sweep before described. 
Sharpen your gouges in the same way, only you 
must keep turning your hand as you rub to and 
fro, so that each part of the edge of the gouge 
may come in contact with the stone. I sharpen 
my gouges in a manner different from most peo- 
ple; by holding the gouge across the stone and 
giving it*a rocking motion by turns of the wrist, 
as I push it up and down the stone. To ex- 
plain: bring the gouge close to you, holding it 
across your body; put the further corner of 
the gouge down on the stone, push from you, 
and at the same time turn your wrist, so that 
the upper or nearest corner comes down on 



224 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

the stone; drawing it back, reverse the motion, 
and in this way every part of the edge of the 
gouge will be equally ground by the stone. I 
have found this by far the best plan, as the edge 
does not get rubbed away more in one place than 
in another. Then, as you can not sharpen the 
face, which is hollow, on the oil-stone, take the 
slip between the finger and thumb of your right 
hand, and holding the gouge firmly in the left, 
sharpen the inside of the tool. Take care not 
to rub away too much of the face of your tools, 
for it is the hardest and most precious part. 

The V tool is the most difficult of all to 
sharpen. This must be done with the flat side 
of the slip, and take care that it is not rubbed 
more on one side than the other. It will re- 
quire considerable practice and much patience to 
learn to sharpen this tool well; but in this, as in 
all other things, remember the old Spanish 
proverb: "With patience and perseverance the 
mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown." The final 
touches, which give to the tools the last degree 
of sharpness and smoothness of edge, are given 
on a piece of stout leather, about 1^ in. wide 
and 8 in. long, glued to a board, and rubbed over 
with the very finest emery paste, which is emery 



USEFUL HINTS AND EECIPES 225 

made into a stiff paste with tallow. The emery 
must be perfectly free from grit; and, to obtain 
it in this condition, yon must get some of the 
very finest flour of emery and mix it with water 
in a tall jar, such as a good-sized fruit jar. 
After stirring it up vigorously, allow it to settle 
for say a minute ; pour off the liquid into another 
vessel, and allow the fine powder that remains in 
it to settle completely. Pour off the liquid, dry 
the powder, and keep it for use. The strop 
should be kept carefully covered, to protect it 
from dust; and, if the emery be good, it will im- 
part to your tools an edge as keen as a razor. 
The leather should be hard, firm and of even 
texture. Some people recommend soft, buffed 
leather; but this is a mistake as it does not 
sharpen a tool nearly as well or as quickly as 
the hard leather. Moreover, the soft leather will 
curl up behind the tool as it is rubbed along and 
will thus round off the edges instead of leaving 
them with a true angular bevel. 

Soldering 

At first thought soldering may seem to have 
but little connection with carpentry, but as a 
matter of fact a knowledge of soldering will be 



226 THE AMATEUE CAEPENTEE 

of great value to the amateur carpenter. Gut- 
ters to roofs, pipes, trays, linings to moth- 
proof boxes, the trays for umbrella-racks, orna- 
mental metal work and hundreds of other acces- 
sories used in carpentry must be soldered, and 
aside from its value in this connection you will 
find soldering very useful. In a thousand and 
one places, on the farm, in the city home, in 
camp, when travelling and, in fact, under nearly 
all conditions and in nearly all places a knowl- 
edge of proper methods of soldering will come 
in very handy. 

A boy who can solder well will find a sur- 
prising number of things which require his at- 
tention; dishes, utensils, instruments, tools, toys 
and a thousand other discarded objects may be 
made as "good as new" by judicious use of sol- 
der and, moreover, with some odds and ends of 
tin, brass, etc., a boy can make a great many 
things which he cannot possibly construct in 
any other way. 

There are but three things necessary for sol- 
dering. The first and most expensive is the 
"soldering iron" or "soldering copper," a 
square or rounded piece of copper with a sharp 
point and a handle. The second essential is the 



USEFUL HINTS AND EECIPES 227 

solder, a mixture of lead and tin, which may be 
bought in bars or strips, and the third necessity 
is the "flux," a compound or material used to 
cause the solder to stick. 

A good soldering copper may be purchased 
for fifty to seventy-five cents, the price depend- 
ing upon size and weight, as these tools are sold 
by weight, and a medium-sized, straight-pointed 
copper is best to begin with. A very small cop- 
per will lose its heat rapidly and is a nuisance, 
whereas a very large one will be clumsy and tire- 
some to use. The solder should be of the "half- 
and-half ' ' mixture and ten cents ' worth will last 
quite a long time. Now comes the flux, and in a 
way this is the most important item of all as well 
as the cheapest. There are a great many kinds 
of fluxes used and the particular one depends 
somewhat upon the character of the work, the 
materials to be soldered and the preference of 
the solderer. Eesin works very well on bright 
tin, but is not good on most other metals and, to 
my mind, the best flux of all is chloride of zinc 
and sal ammoniac. The chloride of zinc is merely 
hydrochloric or muriatic acid in which zinc is 
dissolved until no more will be taken up. When 
all the zinc possible is dissolved, add sal 



228 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

ammoniac in the proportions of about 2 oz. of the 
sal ammoniac to 1 qt. of liquid. 

Pieces of old battery-zincs are the best ma- 
terial to use in making this compound, but clip- 
pings of sheet zinc do just as well; the impor- 
tant matter being to add zinc until no more will 
dissolve. The acid should be placed in a large 
jar or bottle and the zinc added slowly to pre- 
vent it from fizzing or boiling over. 

When preparing the mixture, retain a few 
good-sized lumps of the sal ammoniac, as they 
will be useful later on, and, when all is ready, 
have a piece of old tin on a board, a woollen 
rag, some sandpaper and a file on hand. First 
of all the copper must be " tinned.' ' This is ac- 
complished by heating the copper hot enough to 
melt the solder readily, brightening it with a flat 
file and rubbing it on the sal ammoniac and solder 
on the piece of tin. The sal ammoniac will cause 
the solder to coat the brightened surface of the 
copper, and if well done the entire point of the 
copper should be bright and silvery. If at first 
you do not succeed in getting a good coat on the 
copper, heat it over again, rub with the file to 
remove oxide and rub again on the sal ammoniac 
and solder. 



USEFUL HINTS AND RECIPES 229 

While the copper has been heating you should 
have thoroughly cleaned the parts to be soldered 
by scraping with an old knife and rubbing with 
sandpaper or emery cloth. If the place to be 
repaired is merely a crack or small hole it should 
be wet with the soldering flux (using a piece of 
stick with a swab on the end and not a piece of 
metal). 

When the copper is well tinned, dip the point 
in the solder, rub the copper over the bright 
wet surface around the hole or crack and a coat 
of melted solder will at once flow onto the sur- 
face. If the hole is very small this thin coat will 
probably be sufficient to cover it, but if it is large 
you should gradually add more solder by rubbing 
the copper towards the hole from the edges and 
piling up the melted solder in a little ridge until 
the hole is hidden. 

If the hole is very large, you will have to solder 
a small piece of metal over it. Use metal of the 
same kind as that of which the object is made, 
clean it thoroughly, wet it with the flux and coat 
it with solder by rubbing the copper over it until 
well coated. Then coat the space around the hole 
with solder, place the small piece of metal over 
the hole with the solder-coated surface against 



230 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

the coated surface about the hole, and rest the 
hot copper against it until the solder runs to- 
gether between the small piece and the surface 
around the hole. Now gently withdraw the cop- 
per and allow the soldered utensil to cool slowly. 
If the piece you solder on is very small, you will 
find it is easier to hold it in position by pressing 
a stick against it when removing the copper, as 
otherwise it may slip on the melted solder and 
get out of position. 

If two pieces of metal are to be joined, they 
must be cleaned and brightened and each piece 
tinned by wetting with flux and rubbing the sol- 
der-coated copper over them. The two parts to 
be joined must then be tied or held firmly in 
position and the soldering copper run along and 
around the edges so that the solder melts and 
runs in between them. 

The soldering copper must be kept quite hot 
while you are working, for a cool copper does 
rough work, but occasionally where a large mass 
of solder is required over a large hole or a weak 
spot, the solder may be more readily piled 
up if the copper is just hot enough to melt 
the solder and pick it up in a sort of " pasty' ' 
form. 



USEFUL HINTS AND BECIPES 231 

The secret of strong soldered joints is to have 
just as little solder as possible between the parts 
soldered. 

You will undoubtedly have some difficulty in 
making neat jobs at first, but you will soon get 
the "hang" of it and will be able to turn out 
work that would be a credit to a professional. 
Do not get the copper too hot; if it gets red-hot 
the solder will be burnt off, the copper oxidized, 
and you will have to tin it over again. Use a 
charcoal or coke fire if possible, but a blow torch 
or even a good coal fire will serve if the ashes 
are wiped from the copper with a woollen rag 
each time it is taken from the fire. A small gas 
stove is also an excellent method of heating the 
copper. 

You will find that copper, tin and brass are 
very easy to solder, but you will have hard work 
with iron, steel and aluminum. For the latter 
you must use specially-prepared aluminum solder 
and a bare, untinned copper very hot and no flux 
at all. For soldering iron or steel you will find 
that pure muriatic acid works better than the 
flux, and that hard solder containing a lot of tin 
is superior to the half-and-half. Sometimes cast 
iron may be soldered more satisfactorily by first 



232 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

pressing a piece of tinfoil against the surface and 
melting it on by heating the whole. 

Whenever you wish to solder large pieces of 
metal the objects should be made quite hot, as 
otherwise the solder will refuse to stick or will 
be rough and uneven, while the heat from the 
copper will be drawn out by the cold metal and 
the copper will require frequent heatings. 

In soldering zinc it is more satisfactory to use 
pure chloride of zine without the«sal ammoniac, 
and if you wish to solder very fusible metals, such 
as lead, pewter, or britannia, you must use a very 
soft easily-melted solder. 

By trying different metals and experimenting 
you will soon learn to know just how hot to keep 
the copper, just the kind or grade of solder best 
adapted to the work and the most satisfactory 
flux to use. Most amateurs fail by having the 
copper too cool, by failing to keep it clean and 
brightly tinned, by failing to thoroughly clean 
the parts to be soldered and by too much haste; 
a great deal of trouble is also encountered by 
forgetting the copper and allowing it to get too 
hot. 

Use care and patience and remember that 
"practice makes perfect'' in soldering as well as 



USEFUL HINTS AND EECIPES 233 

in any other work, and in the end yon will find 
that a knowledge of how to solder is a most val- 
uable attainment. 

Working Glass 

Quite frequently the amateur carpenter will 
have occasion to use glass. A knowledge of how 
to cut, bore, and work glass is of great value, 
and while at first you may think glass a very 
hard and refractory material to handle, yet you 
will find it nearly as easy to work as wood, after 
you know how. 

For cutting ordinary flat glass, such as window 
glass, or for cutting curved, round, oval, or ir- 
regularly-shaped pieces out of flat glass, the 
diamond is the best tool ; and, if the operator has 
no diamond it will always pay to carry the job 
to a glazier rather than waste time and make a 
poor job by other and inferior means. When, 
however, it is required to cut off a very little 
from a circle or oval, the diamond is not avail- 
able, except in very skilful hands. In this case 
a pair of pliers softened by heating, or very dull 
scissors, are the best tools, and the cutting is best 
performed under water. A little practice will 
enable the operator to shape a small round or 



234 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

oval with great rapidity, ease and precision. 
When bottles or flasks are to be cut, the diamond 
is still the best tool in skilful hands ; but ordinary 
operators will succeed best with pastilles, or a 
red-hot poker with a pointed end. The latter is 
preferable, as it is the most easily obtained and 
the most efficient, and I have never found any 
difficulty in cutting off broken bottles so as to 
make dishes, or even in cutting spirally around 
a long bottle or tube so as to form a sort of 
glass corkscrew. Strangely enough glass cut in 
this shape is quite elastic, and the spiral may be 
pulled out for some distance, like a spring. 

The process is very simple. The line of the cut 
should be marked by chalk, or by pasting a thin 
strip of paper alongside of it; then make a file 
mark to commence the cut; apply the hot iron 
and a crack will start; and this crack will follow 
the iron wherever we choose to lead it. In this 
way jars are easily made out of old bottles, and 
broken vessels of different kinds may be cut up 
into new forms. Flat glass may also be cut into 
the most intricate and elegant forms. The red- 
hot iron is far superior to strings wet with tur- 
pentine, friction, etc. 

For drilling holes in glass, a common steel 



USEFUL HINTS AND KECIPES 235 

drill, well made and well tempered, is the best 
tool. The steel should be forged at a low tem- 
perature, so as to be sure not to burn it, and 
then tempered as hard as possible in a bath of 
salt water that has been well boiled. Such a 
drill will go through glass very rapidly if kept 
well moistened with turpentine in which some 
camphor has been dissolved. Dilute sulphuric 
acid is equally good, if not better. It is stated 
that, at Berlin, glass castings for pump barrels, 
etc., are drilled, planed, and bored, like iron ones, 
and in the same lathes and machines, by the aid 
of sulphuric acid. A little practice with these 
different plans will enable the operator to cut 
and work glass as easily as brass or iron. 

Ornamental and Frosted Glass 

Sometimes a pane of glass, especially in a cabi- 
net or bookcase, will be more in harmony with 
the design if frosted or ornamented. Ornamental 
glass is quite expensive and is far more difficult 
to cut and work than plain glass. It is not neces- 
sary to use the prepared glass for such purposes, 
however, for the ordinary plain glass may be 
treated by a simple method and will be just as 
ornamental and ofter prettier than the commer- 



236 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

cial article. A very good method to employ is 
the following: Mix a very concentrated cold so- 
lution of some salt with dextrine, and by means of 
a broad, soft brush, lay the thinnest possible 
coating of the fluid on the surface to be covered. 
After drying, the surface has a beautiful, bright 
mother-of-pearl appearance. To make the coat- 
ing adhere to glass, it is only necessary to var- 
nish it with an alcoholic solution of shellac. The 
following salts give the finest crystallisations: 
sulphate of magnesia, acetate of soda and sul- 
phate of tin. Coloured glass thus prepared gives 
a good effect by transmitted light. 

Sometimes plain, ground glass is desired and 
by using the following method ordinary window 
glass may be transformed into ground glass, 
which will withstand ordinary washing and will 
even be proof against steam, as in bathrooms, 
etc. 

Put a piece of putty in muslin, twist the fabric 
tight, and tie it into the shape of a pad ; thoroughly 
clean the glass first, and then putty it all over. 
The putty will exude sufficiently through the mus- 
lin to render the stain opaque. Let it dry hard, 
and then varnish. If a pattern is required, cut 
it out in paper as a stencil; place it so as not 



USEFUL HINTS AND RECIPES 237 

to slip, and proceed as above, removing the sten- 
cil when finished. If there should be any ob- 
jection to the existence of the clear spaces, cover 
with slightly opaque varnish. In this way very 
neat and cheap signs may be painted on glass 
doors. 

Waterproofing Wood 

Sometimes it is very convenient to be able to 
made wooden objects impervious to water. To 
do this, soak the wood in a solution of zinc 
chloride, or soak it in a mixture of boracic acid, 
6 parts; ammonium chloride, 5 parts; sodium 
borate, 3 parts and water, 100 parts. 

Fireproofing Wood 

Strictly speaking, it is not possible to make 
wood really fireproof, but nevertheless there are 
several ways of treating wood so it will merely 
char and will not blaze or even glow, save under 
tremendous heat. The following are all good 
formulae for rendering wood practically fire- 
proof: 

Coat the wood with a solution of 10 to 20 
parts of potassium carbonate in 100 parts of 
water. 



238 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

Immerse the wood in the following solution: 
Ammonium phosphate, 100 parts; boracic acid, 
10 parts ; water, 1,000 parts ; or ammonium sul- 
phate, 135 parts; boracic acid, 5 parts; sodium 
borate, 15 parts; water, 1,000 parts. 

If the object is too large, or for any other rea- 
son cannot be soaked in the solution, two or three 
coats brushed on will serve all ordinary pur- 
poses. 

Where the solution is to be applied with a 
brush the following formulae are preferable: 

Sodium silicate, hot, 100 parts; Spanish white, 
50 parts; glue, 100 parts. Tungstate of soda 
solution thoroughly brushed into wood will pre- 
vent it from burning or blazing save under great 
heat. 

Fastening Metal, etc., to Wood 

Quite frequently it is necessary to attach 
metal, leather, celluloid or other substances to 
wood, and ordinary glue or cement will not prove 
adequate. The following formulas will be found 
efficient : 

Rubber to Wood. — Shellac, 1 oz. ; gutta percha, 
1 oz. ; sulphur, 45 grs. ; red lead, 45 grs. 

Melt together the shellac and gutta percha and 



USEFUL HINTS AND BECIPES 239 

then add and stir constantly the sulphur and red 
lead. Use while hot. 

Celluloid to Wood. — Shellac, 1 part; spirits of 
camphor, 1 part; alcohol and camphor (90 per 
cent.), 3 to 5 parts. 

Metal to Wood. — Dissolve 50 parts of acetate 
of lead and 5 parts of alum in a little water. Dis- 
solve, in another receptacle, 75 parts of gum 
arabic in 2,000 parts of water. Into the latter 
pour 500 parts of flour, stirring constantly and 
heat gradually to the boiling point. Mix the two 
solutions. 

To Prevent Wood from Warping 

Wood may be prevented from warping, even 
when in very thin pieces, by immersing it in a 
concentrated bath of sea water for a w r eek or so. 
After this treatment the material will resist the 
greatest changes of weather and temperature 
without warping or buckling. 



CHAPTER XIV 
WOOD-WORKING MACHINERY 

While a great deal of work may be accomplished 
solely with hand tools, yet many hours of time 
and much hard and difficult work may be saved 
if wood-working machines are within reach. 
Nearly every boy has seen or used ' ' scroll-saws ' ' 
or "jig-saws," and these are mighty useful ma- 
chines in connection with carpentry work. The 
ordinary old-fashioned scroll-saws, with minute, 
easily-broken blades, and capable only of light 
work on thin wood are of little value for the 
amateur carpenter. For real utility the scroll- 
saw should be large and strong enough to handle 
wood at least £ in. in thickness without undue 
strain. In getting out shelves, brackets, furni- 
ture and a thousand and one other objects such 
a machine will prove of inestimable value and 
is perhaps the most useful of all simple wood- 
working machines. A turning-lathe is also most 
valuable, and as turning-lathes large enough for 
amateurs' use are fairly cheap every boy car- 
penter should save his spending money to pur- 

240 



WOOD-WORKING MACHINERY 241 

chase a lathe if he cannot prevail upon his par- 
ents to get one for him. 

Many books and magazine articles have de- 
scribed how to make home-made turning-lathes, 
but as a rule such things are merely makeshifts 
and in the end cost nearly as much as a well- 
built lathe. To be of any real value a lathe must 
run true and must be very rigid, and wooden, 
home-made affairs seldom do this. Although in 
former days nearly every carpenter built his own 
lathe and turned out good work, yet such lathes 
were far inferior to the cheapest ready-made 
lathes that to-day are within the reach of nearly 
every boy. 

You can get a good lathe for the price you 
would pay for a gun or a good fishing-rod or 
even for a baseball or tennis outfit, and the lathe 
will prove far more instructive and useful and 
will furnish fully as much amusement as the gun 
or other articles. 

On a lathe you can turn ornamental work of 
all kinds and can make chair, table and desk legs, 
round railings, spindles, and in fact anything 
which is round or cylindrical, and, moreover, you 
can use it for making tops and baseball bats and 
many other objects of sport and recreation. It 



242 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

is very easy to use a lathe, for it is merely neces- 
sary to set the wood in position, place the tool- 
rest at the proper height and distance from the 
wood, hold the tool properly and turn out any- 
thing your fancy dictates. A great many begin- 
ners fail in their first attempts at using a lathe 
merely through not understanding the simplest 




Fid.l 



principles of turning, but with a few hints and 
a little care any boy can produce excellent results 
after a few hours' practice. 

In turning wood or other materials the object 
to be turned revolves towards the operator and 
the tool held against the revolving wood cuts 
shavings from its surface. If the tool is held too 
low, as in Fig. 1, you can readily see that the 
tendency is for the wood to bend down the tool 
and tear it from the operator's hand, whereas if 
held too high (Fig. 2), the pressure exerted 
against the tool will have a tendency to push it 
back and split off large pieces of wood. To secure 



WOOD-WORKING MACHINERY 243 

the best results and cut the wood without either 
wabbling or pushing the tool out of position and 
splitting the wood, the tool must be held slightly 
above the centre of the wood and slightly tilted 
up as in Fig. 3. The wood to be turned may be 
either round, roughly hewed into octagonal or 
hexagonal shape, or merely square, for with 
proper tools the rough, square edges will be rap- 
idly taken off and the wood turned true and 
round. The first tool to be used depends very 
largely upon the form of the billet of wood and 
the kind of wood used. In turning hard wood the 
chips taken off must be smaller than for soft wood 
and a finer tool must usually be employed. In the 
same way when roughing out a square piece of 
wood you must use a coarser and heavier tool 
than for working on a piece which is already 
rounded. The roughing is usually done with a 
large turning gouge which is held firmly on the 
tool-rest and just touches the corners of the wood 
as it revolves. Do not try to hurry this part of 
the process, but run the gouge slowly back and 
forth along the rest, chipping off the corners 
gradually and from time to time setting the rest 
nearer the wood and pressing the gouge more 
firmly against it as the piece of timber assumes 



244 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

a round form. A heavy turning-chisel is also 
useful in roughing out, and in using this the 
corner should be brought closer to the wood than 
the straight edge and should be run along the 
wood as the latter revolves. Never try to work 
a piece of wood down in one spot and then move 
along and work down in another. Rough the 
piece for the entire length until round and then 
proceed with the finer work. A few gouges and 
chisels, a few files and some sandpaper are all the 
tools required for turning, and a good workman 
can perform wonderful turning feats with one or 
two tools. You will soon find that each angle at 
which you hold the tool and the different corners 
or edges of the tools will produce various results, 
and you will be fascinated at the ease and rapid- 
ity with which you can transform a rough piece of 
cordwood into a smooth, round, highly-polished 
and beautifully turned object. 

Beginners usually find quite a little difficulty 
in the use of wood-turning tools owing to the 
fact that they hold the tools in the wrong posi- 
tion with relation to the work. If a tool is not 
held correctly it is liable to dig, or run, into 
the material and at times may even be thrown 
from the hand of the operator. If the principles 



WOOD-WORKING MACHINERY 245 

governing the use of turning tools are once 
properly understood, any boy may handle them 
with confidence and safety and may secure good 
results. 

The principal tool used in ordinary turning is 
the gouge (Fig. 4). It is used mainly for rough- 
ing-out work, turning uneven or square billets 
of wood into the size and general form desired 
and for turning rounded grooves, etc., but in 
the hands of an expert finely finished work may 
be produced by the use of this tool alone. 

The proper way to hold the gouge is shown in 
Fig. 5, in which the cut of the tool is being taken 
from right to left, the face-plate of the lathe 
being on the left-hand side, and so by holding the 
hands as illustrated the arms and body are kept 
away from the plate and wheel. If the cut is to 
be taken from left to right, however, the position 
of the two hands must be transposed. 

If the work is very much out of true or is 
square, or has corners upon it, the forefinger may 
be placed under the hand-rest with the thumb in 
the trough of the gouge pressing the tool firmly 
against the rest in order to steady it and prevent 
it from jumping or chattering. This is necessary 
to prevent the gouge from digging into the work 



246 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

in many cases, as well as to obviate any danger 
of the tool forcing the wood from the lathe by 
suddenly moving forward and catching on a 
corner of the square wood. When the gouge is 
thus held the point of rest upon the lathe may 
be used as a fulcrum, the tool handle being moved 
laterally to feed it to the cut, which is a very 
simple and safe manner of using it, for beginners. 
The main point in the use of the gouge is to be 
particular as to the plane in which the trough 
lies. 

Suppose, for example, that in Fig. 6 the piece 
of wood has three separate gouge cuts being 
taken on it, that on the right being taken in the 
direction of the arrow. If the gouge is held in 
the usual position it acts merely as a wedge and 
the whole of the pressure placed by the cut upon 
the trough-side, or face, of the gouge is tending 
to force the tool in the direction of the arrow 
and therefore to dig into its cut, rip the work 
and perhaps throw it from the lathe or break 
the tool. To avoid this the gouge should be 
canted or tipped so it lies as in A or B, in which 
position any pressure against the cut tends to 
force the gouge away and only a slight pressure 
is required to make the cut. In using the gouge 



WOOD-WORKING MACHINERY 247 



the trough should be almost horizontal and the 
cutting edge only slightly elevated. 

The gouge for turning should be sharpened as 
shown in Fig. 4, where, by looking at the back 





Fig. 9 




Fio.4 



view (A), it will be seen that the curve is well 
rounded or ground down on the sides in order 
to make the sides of the cutting edge keen and 
sharp. 

Frequent oil-stoning of the gouge is essential, 
a small, round slip being used for the inside of 
the trough and a common flat stone for the other 
side. 



248 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

For finishing long, even surfaces and in many 
other kinds of work a square-ended chisel is used. 
This should be stout, short and of the form shown 
in Fig. 7. It should be carefully ground and oil- 
stoned with the surfaces level with the stone. The 
position in which this tool should be used is shown 
in Fig. 7, A being the wood in the lathe, B the 
chisel and C the tool-rest. Some workmen who 
are expert hold this form of chisel at an angle, 
as indicated by the dotted line, D> and while this 
position makes the chisel cut very freely and 
rapidly it increases the liability to dig into the 
work and should not be attempted until you are 
quite familiar with wood-turning work. 

Another tool of great importance is the skew- 
chisel, so called because its edge is at an angle 
or askew with the rest of the blade (Fig. 8). 
This chisel will cut very clean and smooth, leav- 
ing an almost polished surface on the work, and 
it has the advantage that its body may be kept 
out of the way of projecting flanges or radial 
work or by turning it on edge it may be used to 
finish radial surfaces with great precision. The 
position in which this tool should be held depends 
upon the character of the work. In Fig. 8 it is 
shown as used in turning a globe. Here it is 



WOOD-WORKING MACHINERY 249 

held so that the middle of the edge does the cut- 
ting and thus there is no tendency to dig into 
the work. The whole secret in using this impor- 
tant and valuable tool lies in giving it just the 
proper angle or slant in relation to the revolving 
wood. It is shown in Fig. 9 in the correct position 
for taking a cut from a flange; at E from right 
to left, and at F from left to right. The face of 
the tool lying on the work must be tilted over 
for E as shown by A, and for F as shown by 
B, the tilt being just sufficient to permit the edge 
to cut. If it is tilted too much it will dig into 
the work and if not tilted enough the edge will 
not meet the work and therefore cannot cut. For 
cutting down the ends of work or down a side 
face of a flange it should be tilted very little, as 
shown in C, D, the amount of the cant regulating 
the depth of the cut so that when the cutting 
edge has entered the wood to the desired depth 
the flat face of the tool will prevent the edge from 
going any deeper. In cutting down a radial face 
the acute corner of the tool leads the cut, whereas 
in plain cylindrical work the obtuse is the better 
corner to lead. For cutting down the ends, for 
getting into small corners and for all forms of 
small ornamental work this tool is far handier 



250 THE AMATEUE CARPENTER 

than the ordinary chisel and leaves more highly 
finished work; but for good results it must be 
kept excessively sharp. 

Remember to keep the tool-rest just as close 
to the surface of the revolving wood as possible 
and as you turn down the wood move the rest 
closer to it, for if a considerable space inter- 
venes your tool will sway, wabble and " chatter,' ' 
or may be broken, torn from your hand or may 
catch in the wood and throw it from the centre 
and out of true or may even tear it entirely 
from the lathe. When the piece of wood is near- 
ing completion work very carefully; too much 
pressure may break some thin delicate portion 
and ruin the work. Keep the tools sharp ; a dull, 
chipped, or poor tool cannot produce smooth, 
well-turned work. Oil the end of the wood which 
revolves on the centre spindle and see that the 
point of the centre is kept well turned up and 
tight in the wood. In placing the wood in the 
lathe first mark the approximate centres at each 
end. On square wood this is easily accomplished 
by drawing straight lines from corner to corner 
and the centre will be where they cross, and on 
round wood the approximate centre may be 
found either with a pair of dividers or compasses 



WOOD-WORKING MACHINERY 251 

or by measuring the diameter and marking half 
its distance in two or three directions on the end 
of the wood. This centring will save time, for 
while the wood may be turned true, even if placed 
out of centre on the lathe, a great deal of unnec- 
essary material and considerable time will be 
wasted. Eemember that no matter how carefully 
you centre the wood it will not be absolutely true 
when revolving in the lathe and a certain amount 
must be taken off before it becomes perfectly 
round and, therefore, make allowance for this and 
use a piece considerably larger than you wish the 
finished object. After the article is turned true 
and to the proper size and form with tools, go 
over it and smooth it with files while revolving 
it very rapidly and finish with sandpaper held 
against it. It may be stained, oiled or waxed in 
the lathe and if a shellac-moistened cloth is held 
against it a high polish may be imparted. 
Smooth pieces of hard wood, bone, ivory or other 
material, if held against the wood, will burnish 
it, and very attractive effects may be obtained 
by holding bits of smooth wood or other materials 
against the wood until it scorches or browns 
slightly. 
A pair of calipers must be used in getting two 



252 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

or more pieces turned alike, and as the piece 
becomes near the right size you should proceed 
carefully and make frequent measurements; — 
it's an easy matter to take off material but im- 
possible to put it on, so be sure and do not get 
the piece too small before you realise it. 

Band-saws and buzz-saws are useful wood- 
working machines, but the former has no advan- 
tage over the heavy-duty scroll-saw for ordinary 
work and a buzz-saw is mainly useful where a 
great deal of work is done. Moulding machines 
are very useful where cabinet or furniture work 
is being done or where it is difficult to purchase 
ready-made moulding, and some of these ma- 
chines are so cheap and so handy that the boy 
carpenter will find them a great convenience and 
a source of much pleasure and recreation. 
Boring-machines are seldom worth while for 
amateurs ' work, and planers have no place in the 
amateur's shop. Sanders are useful machines 
in large mills and shops, but it is seldom that 
the boy carpenter will find them of any great 
value. Mortising and matching machines, tenon- 
cutters and innumerable other wood-working 
machines are on the market and in fact nearly 
every sort of work may be accomplished by ma- 



WOOD-WORKING MACHINERY 253 

chinery, but the really important wood-working 
machines for boy carpenters' purposes are the 
lathe and the scroll-saw. Both of these machines 
may be operated satisfactorily by foot-power, 
but if you can arrange to have them driven by 
mechanical power you will find the work far 
easier. If you have electricity in the home you 
can readily drive the machines by a small electric 
motor, but motors — even small ones — are quite 
expensive. If you have a motorcycle or automo- 
bile you can easily rig the machine up to operate 
your wood- working machinery. By jacking up 
an automobile, removing a tire from one rear 
wheel and running a belt from the rim to your 
shop you will be able to operate any amount of 
machinery, and even a motorcycle used in the 
same way will drive all the wood- working ma- 
chinery you require. If you have a motor-boat 
the motor may be taken out in winter and set up 
in the shop and may be used to operate your 
machines, or a small 1 or 1^ H. P. motor may 
be purchased very cheaply and used as a station- 
ary engine for the purpose. Every boy's car- 
penter shop should have a grindstone and an 
emery wheel, and if you have power of any sort 
these useful things may be operated by the same 



254 THE AMATEUR CARPENTER 

power, but for all practical purposes the boy 
carpenter's own " elbow grease" or foot-power 
will prove amply sufficient to operate any wood- 
working machines that he may acquire. 

Good, handy, willing carpenters are always in 
demand about a house, and the boy carpenter who 
desires to earn money with which to purchase his 
own tools and machines will have little difficulty 
in getting enough carpenter jobs around the 
neighbourhood to keep him busy during spare 
hours, afford him splendid practice and bring in 
enough odd dollars to keep himself well supplied 
with tools, materials and appliances of his trade. 



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